Development of novel fibrinogen nanoparticles by two-step co-acervation method

Fibrinogen is a natural protein involved in the coagulation cascade. In this study, fibrinogen nanoparticles were prepared by a two-step co-acervation method using calcium chloride as cross-linker. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric (TG), differential thermal analysis (DTA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. The cytotoxicity was studied using NIH3T3. L929 and SKBR3 cell lines by MTT assay, which confirmed that the prepared nanoparticles were non-toxic. Fluorescence measurements revealed that the protein fluorescent band is the same for nanoformulation as bulk, which confirms the retention of protein structure in the nanoparticles. Cellular uptake of Rhodamine 123 conjugated fibrinogen nanoparticles by L929 cells monitored by fluorescent microscopy demonstrated significant internalization and retention of nanoparticles inside the cells. Our preliminary experiments suggest the prospective use of fibrinogen nanoparticles as a superior drug delivery carrier. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.