Project title: Enhancing antibacterial efficacy using protein nanoparticles
Done by: Leslie Tan Zheng Yu (4S1), Tan Jing Chong (4S2)
Abstract: (122 words)
The use of pesticide in eradicating pests has numerous environmental implications,
including eutrophication, soil contamination and reduction in biodiversity. There is an
increasing interest in protein nanoparticles as a drug delivery system. This project
aims to minimize the damage to the environment and localize treatment through the
use of Bovine Serum Albumin nanoparticles loaded with antibiotics. We will be
comparing the effectiveness of antibiotic loaded albumin nanodroplets against
antibiotic loaded albumin nanofibre on Agrobacterium tumefaciens, grown both in
vitro and in vivo. The optimum condition of both nanodroplets and nanofibres for
destroying A.tumefaciens were found out. The two delivery techniques will be
compared through both qualitative and quantitative means. Nanodroplets are made
through coacervation technique while nanofibres are made through electrospinning
technique.
Introduction: (570 words)
Nanotechnology is making rapid progress and has potential as a tool in the
medical field. It has numerous useful applications, including therapeutics, diagnostics,
surgical devices and drug delivery systems (K.Sobha. et al, 2010). This introduction
would focus on the application of nanotechnology for drug delivery systems.
Nanoparticles allows for controlled drug delivery. Examples of such nanoparticles
include liposomes. Studies by Rahimnejad M. et al (2006) showed that utilizing
liposome as a drug carrier rather than giving regular doses of drugs protects the drug
from degradation, reduce its toxicity to healthy cells and minimize potential side
effects. Thus, nanoparticles could be incorporated into chemotherapy to abate any
adverse effects. Also, nanoparticles release drugs slowly, reducing the frequency of
treatment. At the same time, a reduction in dosage allows for lower resistance of
bacteria against antibiotics.
Nevertheless, liposome does have its disadvantages too. Liposomes have low
encapsulation efficiency. It was observed by Rahimnejad M. et al (2006) that
liposome also has poor storage stability due to rapid leakage of water soluble drugs.
An alternative to liposomes as a drug delivery vehicle would be Bovine Serum
Albumin (BSA). Just like viruses and plasmids, protein nanoparticles are promising
as a drug carrier (Mostafa R. et al, 2009). Both liposome and BSA can be prepared
with ease. They improve the therapeutic effects and reduce the side effects of the
formulated drugs (Mohsen J and Zahra B. 2008). However, BSA nanoparticles are
sustainable and well controlled for targeted drug delivery. Antibiotics do not leak as
easily too. Other alternatives include metallic nanoparticles such as silver
nanoparticles. However, there is a lack of research to show that such particles do not
accumulate in the body and result in side effects. BSA nanoparticles on the other
hand, are non-toxic, non-antigenic and biodegradable so that it does not accumulate
indefinitely in tissues (M.Rahimnejab. et al, 2009).
Given the potential of BSA nanoparticles as drug carriers, our research aims
to incorporate antibiotic Ampicillin and Tetracycline into BSA nanodroplets and
nanofibres for use in plants infected with Agrobacterium tumefaciens. While there
are numerous research carried out over the application of nanoparticles for
chemotherapy, there is a lack of such research in plants. Nanofibres would be
formed through the electrospinning method, while nanodroplets would be formed
through the coacervation method. For the electrospinning method, the concentration
of BSA would be varied to find out the optimum condition for nanofibre formation. As
for coacervation method, the temperature would be varied to obtain nanodroplets of
varying sizes (Mohsen J. et al, 2008). Both of them would then be subjected to invitro testing. The nanodroplets and nanofibres would then be compared to see which
one is more suitable for threating plants infected with A.tumefaciens.
Such BSA nanoparticles would bring about both financial and environmental
benefits if they prove to be efficient against agrobacterium in plants. Conventional
methods of dealing with pests include crop dusting, which involves spraying
pesticides from an aircraft. This could have a serious implication on the environment.
There may be land and water pollution. The pest may gain resistance against the
pesticide due to overuse. Not all of the pesticide will target the pest, leading to
wastage of pesticide and financial loss. However, with BSA nanoparticles, such
environmental damage and financial loss would be minimized simply because there
is a targeted delivery of drugs. Also, this minimizes the amount of pesticide used,
which will minimize the possibility of resistance against the antibiotics.
References:
K.Sobha, K.Surendranath, V.Meena, T.Keerthi Jwala, N.Swetha and K.S.M.Latha.
(2010) Emerging trends in nanobiotechnology. Biotechnology and Molecular Biology
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Mostafa R., Ghasem N. and Mohsen J. (2009). Evaluation of effective parameters on
fabrication of BSA nanoparticles. Nature precedings.
Mohsen J. and Zahra B. (2008). Protein Nanoparticle: A unique system as drug
delivery vehicles. African Journal of Biotechnology. . Vol.7 (25), pp. 4926-4934
M.Rahimnejad, N.Mokhtarian and M. Ghasemi. (2009) Production of protein
nanoparticles for food and drug delivery systems. African Journal of Biotechnology. .
Vol.8 (19), pp. 4738-4743
Mohsen J., Ghasem N. and Mostafa R. (2008). Applying the Taguchi method for
optimized fabrication of bovine serum albumin (BSA) nanoparticles as drug delivery
vehicles. African Journal of Biotechnology. Vol.7 (4), pp. 362-367
Rahimnejad M., M.Jahanshahi, G.D. Najafpour (2006). Production of biological
nanoparticles from bovine serum albumin for drug delivery. African Journal of
Biotechnology. Vol.5 (20), pp. 1918-1923