(586f) Biodegradable Zwitterionic Polymer Microparticles for Pulmonary Delivery of Protein-Based Therapeutics

Zwitterionic polymers are bio-compatible materials with dual charges. These materials are often found in nature to protect proteins, thereby facilitating biological function. These materials can protect proteins from harsh environments, such as in the lungs, and facilitate the delivery of these proteins for therapeutic purposes. Pulmonary delivery is particularly challenging because the delivery architecture must be small enough (~1-5 μm) to penetrate the lungs, and it must not be attacked by the immune system. Targeted protein pulmonary delivery through the lungs can increase the protein concentration in the lungs more efficiently than subcutaneous administration. However, the proteins are sensitive and unstable, and potential immunogenicity makes them difficult to deliver to the lungs directly. In our research, we designed inhalable zwitterionic particles and controlled the size within the range (~1 μm) to avoid mucociliary clearance. Human IgG was loaded into the poly (sulfobetaine) (pSB) microparticles. Confocal microscopy and UV-vis were used to quantitatively analyze the loading and releasing of human IgG. ELISA was used to analyze the ability of pSB microparticles to protect the protein under different conditions. A cell viability assay was also performed to evaluate the in-vitro cell cytotoxicity. The primary outcome of our work is the development of a new inhalable material that efficiently protects and delivers therapeutic proteins to the lungs.