Eggshell membrane nano-particles (ESM-NPs) for biomedical applications

鸡蛋是一种宝贵的营养食品，加工/纯化的蛋黄和蛋清有很大的市场。然而，在开发废蛋壳和蛋壳膜的增值应用方面，还需要进行更多的研究。我们对蛋壳膜（ESM）进行了蛋白质组学分析，发现了具有抗菌、免疫调节、抗癌和抗氧化特性的蛋白质，并在ESM中证实了这些活性。然而，使用ESM生物活性底物的最大挑战之一是其溶解度和生物利用度差。这些限制可以通过减小ESM颗粒的尺寸来提高溶解度和增加生物利用度来改善溶解度来解决。纳米/缩小尺寸的ESM颗粒将增强其溶解性和治疗效果，以对抗微生物感染、炎症和其他疾病，这些疾病以前由于尺寸/溶解度限制而难以靶向。该研究的目的是生产蛋壳膜纳米颗粒（ESM-NPs），并评估其在抗癌干细胞、微生物感染和炎症性疾病方面的应用，重点是在皮肤方面的应用。ESM- nps将由ESM制备并进行物理表征。ESM-NPs的抗菌活性将通过涂布平板和微肉汤稀释试验进行评估。ESM-NPs将对人类黑色素瘤细胞系进行测试，以评估其作为抗皮肤癌剂的功效。制备ESM纳米乳膏，并评估ESM- np通过醋酸纤维素膜和大鼠皮肤的转运。ESM-NPs的抗炎活性也将被评估。对ESM的研究将扩展到纳米水平，并将导致从ESM副产品开发新的高价值化妆品和生物医学产品。

The chicken egg is a valuable nutritious food, and large markets exist for processed / purified egg yolk and egg white. However, more research is necessary to develop value-added applications for waste eggshell and eggshell membranes. Our proteomic analysis of eggshell membrane (ESM) has identified proteins with antimicrobial, immune-modulating, anticancer and antioxidant properties, and we have verified these activities in ESM. However, one of the biggest challenges for the use of ESM bioactive substrate is its poor solubility and bioavailability. These limitations could be resolved by reducing the size of the ESM particles to enhance the solubility and increasing the bioavailability to improve solubility. Nano/reduce sized ESM particles will enhance its dissolution and therapeutic efficacy against microbial infection, inflammation, and other disease conditions which were previously difficult to target due to size / solubility restrictions. The objective of the proposed study is to produce eggshell membrane nanoparticles (ESM-NPs) and evaluate its applications against cancer stem cells, microbial infection and inflammatory disease conditions, with an emphasis on skin applications. ESM-NPs will be produced from ESM and physically characterized. The antimicrobial activity of ESM-NPs will be evaluated by spread plate and microbroth dilution assay. ESM-NPs will be tested against human melanoma cell lines to evaluate its efficacy as an anti-skin cancer agent. ESM nanocream will be prepared and ESM-NP transport through cellulose acetate membrane and rat skin will be evaluated. The anti-inflammatory activity of ESM-NPs will also be evaluated. Studies with ESM will be extended to the nano-level, and will lead to the development of new high-value cosmetic and biomedical products from ESM by-products.