Manufacturing hydrolized phytoglycogen nanoparticles at multi-kilogram scale

Mirexus Biotechnologies Inc.，总部位于安大略省圭尔夫的生物技术公司开发了一种水基工艺，从甜玉米中提取天然存在的植物糖原纳米颗粒（PhG）。这些纳米颗粒尺寸均匀（即单分散），无毒且无免疫原性。它们也非常适合化学修饰。这些特性使PhG成为一种有吸引力的生物相容性纳米平台技术。Mirexus最近开发了几种通过酸/热水解或通过PhG的酶消化产生尺寸减小的材料的方法。 对水解材料的生物学测试揭示了独特的性质，包括增强活性氧的减少、上调修复蛋白和减少皮肤细胞中的黑素生成。生产水解的多公斤级材料将使Mirexus能够将水解PhG作为个人护理应用的新型成分推出（天然PhG已经在这个市场上处于有利地位）。虽然酸/热处理在产生水解材料方面是有效的，但是生产设施的当前基础设施不具有生产该材料所需的pH。Mirexus目前的生产装置与酶消化兼容;然而，生产均匀水解材料所需的时间大大增加了产品成本。该研究项目的目标是为新型纳米颗粒-植物糖原-开发一种经济且可扩展的制造工艺，这是Mirexus业务/运营成功的核心，是公司收入的重要来源。PhG技术在市场上的扩展需要能够大规模生产改性材料的方法，这些材料可以很容易地集成到Mirexus的生产工艺中。Mirexus目前缺乏开发这些方法所需的基础设施和专业知识;因此，他们必须与Martinez博士等学术合作伙伴合作。Mirexus是一家总部位于安大略省圭尔夫的加拿大公司。扩大PhG产品线将导致全球对该专利技术的需求增加（>95%的收入将来自出口），公司的增长，并最终为加拿大人创造更多的高科技就业机会。这将直接有利于加拿大经济。由于我们打算在一年内将这项工作的成果推向市场，预计这些高科技工作将在未来两年内创造出来。

Mirexus Biotechnologies Inc., based in Guelph, ON, has developed a water-based process to extract naturally occurring phytoglycogen nanoparticles (PhG) from sweet corn. These nanoparticles are uniform in size (i.e. monodisperse), non-toxic and non-immunogenic. They are also highly amenable to chemical modification. These characteristics position PhG as an attractive biocompatible nano-platform technology. Mirexus recently developed several methods of generating size-reduced material through acid/heat hydrolysis or via enzymatic digestion of PhG. Biological testing of the hydrolysed material has uncovered unique properties including enhanced reduction of reactive oxygen species, upregulation of repair proteins, and decreased melanogenesis in skin cells. Manufacturing hydrolyzed multi-kilogram-scale material would enable Mirexus to launch hydrolyzed PhG as a novel ingredient for personal care applications (native PhG is already well-positioned in this market). While acid/heat treatment is effective at generating hydrolyzed material, the production facility's current infrastructure does not have the pH required to produce this material. Mirexus' current production set-up is compatible with enzymatic digestion; however, the time required to produce uniformly-hydrolyzed material greatly increases the cost of goods. The goal of this research project is to develop an economical and scalable manufacturing process for a new class of nanoparticle-phytoglycogen-which is core to the success of Mirexus' business/operations, representing a significant source of revenue for the company. Expansion of PhG-based technologies within the market demands methodologies that enable scalable production of modified material, which can be easily integrated into Mirexus' production process. Mirexus currently lacks the infrastructure and expertise required to develop these methodologies; thus, it is imperative that they collaborate with academic partners such as Dr. Martinez. Mirexus is a Canadian company based in Guelph ON. Expanding PhG-based product lines will lead to increased global demand for this patented technology (>95% of revenue will be from exports), growth of the company, and ultimately, creation of more high-tech jobs for Canadians. This will directly benefit the Canadian economy. Because we intend to bring the results of this work to market within a year, it is anticipated that these high-tech jobs will be created within the next two years.