%0 Journal Article %T Preparation of alginate coated chitosan microparticles for vaccine delivery %A XingYi Li %A XiangYe Kong %A Shuai Shi %A XiuLing Zheng %A Gang Guo %A YuQuan Wei %A ZhiYong Qian %J BMC Biotechnology %D 2008 %I BioMed Central %R 10.1186/1472-6750-8-89 %X The prepared alginate coated BSA loaded chitosan microparticles had loading efficiency (LE) of 60% and loading capacity (LC) of 6% with mean diameter of about 1 ¦Ìm. When the weight ratio of alginate/chitosan microparticles was greater than 2, the stable system could be obtained. The rapid charge inversion of BSA loaded chitosan microparticles (from +27 mv to -27.8 mv) was observed during the coating procedure which indicated the presence of alginate layer on the chitosan microparticles surfaces. According to the results obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the core-shell structure of BSA loaded chitosan microparticles was observed. Meanwhile, in vitro release study indicated that the initial burst release of BSA from alginate coated chitosan microparticles was lower than that observed from uncoated chitosan microparticles (40% in 8 h vs. about 84% in 0.5 h). SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) assay showed that alginate coating onto chitosan microparticles could effectively protect the BSA from degradation or hydrolysis in acidic condition for at least 2 h. The structural integrity of alginate modified chitosan microparticles incubated in PBS for 24 h was investigated by FTIR.The prepared alginate coated chitosan microparticles, with mean diameter of about 1 ¦Ìm, was suitable for oral mucosal vaccine. Moreover, alginate coating onto the surface of chitosan microparticles could modulate the release behavior of BSA from alginate coated chitosan microparticles and could effectively protect model protein (BSA) from degradation in acidic medium in vitro for at least 2 h. In all, the prepared alginate coated chitosan microparticles might be an effective vehicle for oral administration of antigens.Development of an oral antigens (protein, and etc) delivery system for mucosal vaccine is a meaningful challenge for pharmaceutical scientists. The instability and poor absorption of antigens in gastrointestinal tract is major obstacles in the development %U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6750/8/89