Author(s)

Edgar Perez Herrero, Eva M. Martin del Valle, Miguel A. Galán

.

The authors carried out a steady and unsteady mass transfer studies to simulate both the release of proteins in physiologic environments and proteins transport through a tissue or organ from polymeric capsules by using a substance, the rhodamine B isothiocyanate dextran (RBID) that mimics the behaviour of glycoproteins such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEFG). These studies highlighted the importance of electrostatic interactions between alginate and proteins in the release processes. Thereby, this fact has opened new perspectives in order to use these kind of capsules in protein recognition processes. The electrostatic interactions between alginate and RBID allow pH-dependent controlled release systems that simulate the behaviour of glycoproteins.

Controlled Release Systems, Proteins, Glycoproteins, Growth Factors, Mass Transfer, Unsteady, Steady

E. Herrero, E. Valle and M. Galán, "Understanding the Glycoproteins Release from Alginate-Barium Capsules in Physiologic Enviroments," Advances in Chemical Engineering and Science, Vol. 1 No. 4, 2011, pp. 256-270. doi: 10.4236/aces.2011.14037.