title: Design of starch-formate compound fibers as encapsulation platform for biotherapeutics.
abstract: Effective encapsulation and protection of biotherapeutics using a bio-based carrier, preferably issued from renewable resources, remains a challenge. Herein, we demonstrate application of coaxial electrospinning to fabric starch-based core-sheath compound fibers as a bacterial cells' carrier. Starch-formate is employed as an encapsulation agent, while the fiber core is made of glycerol, serving as a cell suspension medium. SEM microscopy reveals a distinct core-sheath morphology of the starch-formate/glycerol (SFG) compound fibers with mean diameters of 4.13±1.05μm. Calorimetric and thermomechanical analyses and FTIR spectroscopy show a progressive interaction between the starch-formate and the glycerol with time, pronounced with temperature increase. SFG fibers with encapsulated Lactobacillus paracasei are proved stable with retained bacterial viability when stored at 4°C and room temperature for up to 21days. SFG fibers present a potential biotherapeutic products' encapsulation platform, guaranteeing the stability at refrigerated and ambient storage conditions, as determined in this study.
authors.affiliation: NanoEngineering Group, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Anica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lancuški
authors.affiliation: NanoEngineering Group, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Aiman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abu Ammar
authors.affiliation: NanoEngineering Group, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Avrahami
authors.affiliation: NanoEngineering Group, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vilensky
authors.affiliation: NanoEngineering Group, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Gleb
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vasilyev
authors.affiliation: NanoEngineering Group, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 32000 Haifa, Israel. Electronic address: meeyal@technion.ac.il.
authors.forename: Eyal
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zussman
mesh_terms: D001691:Biological Therapy; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D005561:Formates / Q000737:chemistry*; D005990:Glycerol; D000069980:Lacticaseibacillus paracasei; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013213:Starch / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D005561:Formates; D013213:Starch; D005990:Glycerol
keywords: Drug delivery systems; Electrospun fibers; Microencapsulation; Starch; Structure-property relations