Formulation and characterisation of zein microspheres as delivery vehicles

We report on the formulation of non-porous, spherical microspheres composed of zein (a protein from corn) for drug/vaccine delivery. Microspheres were prepared by a simple coacervation technique and a factorial design was used to understand the effects of experimental variables on the particles formed. Ovalbumin, as a model antigen, was loaded into zein microspheres with a loading efficiency of 52%. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the process of microsphere preparation did not have a deleterious effect on the structural integrity of ovalbumin. Thus, our zein microspheres may be further investigated as potential drug/vaccine delivery systems.