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Biocompatible nanotubes as potential carrier for curcumin as a model bioactive compound

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Abstract

We show the ability of poly-d-lysine (PDL) and BSA to form bionanotubes (BNTs) through layer by layer deposition. The process is driven through electrostatic interactions in the interior of a polycarbonate template’s nanopores with a diameter of 400 nm. The BNTs are optimally formed at pH 7.4, where the difference in the magnitude of opposite charge is largest. The results show that three bilayers are necessary to form a stable BNT. SEM data shows that well-formed, uniform, and strong BNTs are formed when three bilayers are used and progressively malformed nanotubes are observed with two and one bilayer. Our studies on the evaluation of curcumin encapsulation into the BNTs with two different interior layers show that encapsulation is favored when the interior layer is predominantly made of BSA. BNTs with a BSA interior have the most efficient encapsulation with an efficiency reaching a maximum of 45 %. We achieved loading capacities in the range of 0.20–0.27 g/g of BNT. We also report the entrapment/encapsulation of curcumin by BNTs made by mixing first BSA with curcumin in a water ethanol solution and then using the curcumin bound BSA solution with PDL to construct BNTs. The SEM images show that the (PDL/BSA–Cur)2 BNTs had relatively large hydrophobic cavities demonstrated by the fact that an aqueous solution couldn’t pass through them.

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Acknowledgments

The majority of the work in this paper was physically conducted at the University of Illinois. Rohollah Sadeghi came to the University of Illinois with a Fellowship from the Ministry of Science Research and Technology of Iran. The support of Rohollah Sadeghi from USDA Hatch funds, the Materials Research Lab, the use of the spectrophotometer in Dr. Bhalerao’s lab are gratefully acknowledged. The support of the University of Tehran, Iran National Science Foundation, Center of Excellence in Biothermodynamics, is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

    R. Sadeghi, A. Kalbasi, Z. Emam-jomeh & S. H. Razavi

  2. Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA

    R. Sadeghi & J. Kokini

  3. Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    A. A. Moosavi-Movahedi

  4. Center of Excellence in Biothermodynamics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    A. A. Moosavi-Movahedi

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  1. R. Sadeghi
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  2. A. Kalbasi
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  3. Z. Emam-jomeh
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  4. S. H. Razavi
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  5. J. Kokini
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  6. A. A. Moosavi-Movahedi
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to J. Kokini or A. A. Moosavi-Movahedi.

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Sadeghi, R., Kalbasi, A., Emam-jomeh, Z. et al. Biocompatible nanotubes as potential carrier for curcumin as a model bioactive compound. J Nanopart Res 15, 1931 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-1931-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-1931-8

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