Gelatin nanoparticle fabrication and optimization of the particle size

The biotechnology industry has recently been demanding second generation of nanoparticle bioproducts such as viruses, plasmids, virus‐like particles and drug‐delivery assemblies (20–300 nm). The possibility of preparing uniform nanoparticles consisting of proteins such as gelatin followed by covalent linkage of avidin was investigated. Gelatin nanoparticles were prepared by two‐step desolvation. As a colloidal drug‐delivery system, the essential parameters in fabrication were optimized by the Taguchi design method. However, for characterizing the nanoparticles AFM and SEM were employed. By introducing 4 factors (temperature, gelatin concentration, agitation speed and the amount of acetone) in 4 levels to the software 16 experiments were carried out and the optimum condition was gained in 50 °C, 45 mg/ml gelatin concentration, 80 ml of acetone based on reduction of the size. The produced nanoparticles size was under 174 nm. The mechanistic of the optimum conditions for preparing protein nanoparticles as well as their characterization are discussed in detail. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)