• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.351-360
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• 1996

Chitosan is a polysaccharide of natural orgin obtained by full or partial deacetylation of chitin, a very abudant natural polymer, which has the properties of biocompatibilities, bioaffinities, and biodegradabilities. The free amino group of chitosan should be participated in forming chelate with holmium (${\beta}$-emitter). $^{166}Ho(NO_3)_3\;5H_2O$ of high radionuclidic purity of upto 99.9% was made by neutron irradiation of naturally occuring $^{166}Ho(NO_3)_3\;5H_2O$, and then reacted with the prepared chitosan solution. The effect of pH, reaction time, the concentration and viscosity of chitosan and the amount of $^{166}Ho$ on forming $^{166}Ho$-chitosan complex ($^{166}Ho$-CHICO) were investigated. $^{166}Ho$-chitosan macroaggregate($^{166}Ho$-CHIMA) was made from $^{166}Ho$-CHICO. Their physical properties such as radionuclidic purity, particle size distribution, stability in vitro and vivo were examined. Their high in vitro and vivo stability makes them attractive agents for internal radiotherapy by local administeration.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.110-116
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• 2010

Lactic acid (LA) fermentation by Lactobacillus salivarius ATCC 11741 immobilized on loofa sponge (LS) was evaluated. To increase the surface area of LS for cell immobilization, $H_2O_2$ and chitosan were introduced as surface modifying reagents. Four chitosans of different molecular weights were separately coated on LS. All experiments were conducted in shaking flask mode at 100 rpm rotating speed and $37^{\circ}C$ with 5% $CaCO_3$ as a pH regulating agent. The effects of initial glucose concentration were investigated in the range of 20-100 g/l on LA fermentation by free cells. The results indicate that the maximum concentration of LA was produced with 50 g/l glucose concentration. The immobilized cell system produced 1.5 times higher concentration than free cells for 24 h of fermentation. Moreover, immobilized cells can shorten the fermentation time by 2-fold compared with free cells at the same level of LA concentration. At 1% (w/v) chitosan in 2% (v/v) acetic acid, the Yp/s and productivities of various molecular weights of chitosans were insignificantly different. Repeated batch fermentations showed 5 effective recycles with Yp/s and productivity in the range of 0.55-0.85 and 0.90-1.20 g/l.h, respectively. It is evident that immobilization of L. salivarius onto LS permits reuse of the system under these fermentation conditions. Scanning electron micrographs indicated that there were more intact cells on the chitosan-treated LS than on the untreated LS, thus confirming the effectiveness of the LS-chitosan combination when being utilized as a promising immobilization carrier for LA fermentation.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.147-154
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• 2018

Currently, to overcome low therapeutic efficiencies and side effects of anticancer agents, the study of drug carrier based on polymers have been consistently investigated. Although the traditional drug carrier based on polymers displayed an excellent result and significant progress, there has been a problem with the side effect and low therapeutic efficiency because of the premature drug release before reached to the targeted region by the low stability in blood stream and sustained drug release. In this review article, to improve the problem of inefficient drug release, methods were suggested, which can maximize the therapeutic efficiency by increasing the stability in the blood stream and triggering drug release at the target site by introducing a stimuli-responsive substance to the non-toxic and biocompatible natural polymer chitosan.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.277.1-277.1
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• 2002

The purpose of this study was to develop PEl-based gene carriers with optimal serum stability and reduced cytotoxicity. PEl is an efficient gene transfer agent with the ability of DNA condensation and endosome escape: however; use of the polymer in vivo is hampered by signigicant reduction in transfection activity by the presence of serum. Chitosan is a non-toxic. biodegradable and biocompatible polymer with hydrophilic functional groups so it may provide a physical stability against challenge by serum proteins. (omitted)

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.85-92
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• 2014

To develop water-soluble chitosan as an effient gene delivery carrier, chitosan oligosaccharides (COSs) with various molecular weights (MW) were studied for gene transfection agents. MWs of COSs fractionated by ultrafiltration techniques were identified as narrow MW distributions with the average MW ranging from 1 to 10 kDa through gel permeation chromatography (GPC) measurement depending on the applied ultrafiltration membranes. Their structural characterizations were analyzed by FTIR spectrophotometer and $^1H$ NMR. The degree of deacetylation was determined by UV spectroscopy showing the degree of deacetylation above 90%. The relative cell viabilities were maintained over 100% (10 mg/mL), independent of the MW of the fractionated COSs. The fractionated COSs of 10 mg/mL concentration with narrow MW distributions showed non-cytotoxicity in Caco-2 cells.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.263-269
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• 2008

To develop carriers of hydrophobic anticancer agents based on chitosan, chitosan oligosaccharide lactate (COS) was chemically modified with lithocholic acid (LA) which is one of the bile acids as a hydrophobic group. The physicochemical properties of the lithocholic acid conjugated chitosan nanoparticles (COS-LA) were investigated using $^1H$-NMR spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and spectrofluorophotometer. COS-LA-paclitaxel (CLs-Tx) nanoparticles loading paclitaxel as an anticancer agent were prepared by a dialysis method and its loading efficiency was measured through HPLC. On the basis of DLS results, the estimated particle sizes of CLs-Tx were around 300 nm. Also, the critical micelle concentration (CMC) was proven to be dependent on the degree of substitution of lithocholic acid. It showed that the CLs-Tx has the superior potential for the application as a paclitaxel carrier.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.253-258
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• 2004

Purpose: Chitosan has been studied as a non-viral gene delivery vector, drug delivery carrier, metal chelator, food additive, and radiopharmaceutical, among other things. Recently, galactose-graft chitosan was studied as a non-viral gene and drug delivery vector to target hepatocytes. The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of nuclear imaging for in vivo evaluation of targeting the hepatocyte by galactose grafting. Methods and Materials: Galactosyl methylated chitosan (GMC) was produced by methylation to lactobionic acid coupled chitosan. Cytotoxicity of $^{99m}Tc$-GMC was determined by MTT assay. Rabbits were injected via their auricular vein with $^{99m}Tc$-GMC and $^{99m}Tc$-methylated chitosan (MC), the latter of which does not contain a galactose group, and images were acquired with a gamma camera equipped with a parallel hole collimator. The composition of the galactose group in galactosylated chitosan (GC), as well as the tri-, di-, or mono-methylation of GMC, was confirmed by NMR spectroscopy. Results: The results of MTT assay indicated that $^{99m}Tc$-GMC was non-toxic. $^{99m}Tc$-GMC specifically accumulated in the liver within 10 minutes of injection and maintained high hepatic uptake. In contrast, $^{99m}Tc$-MC showed faint liver uptake. $^{99m}Tc$-GMC scintigraphy of rabbits showed that the galactose ligand principally targeted the liver while the chitosan functionalities led to excretion through the urinary system. Conclusion: Bioconjugation with a specific ligand endows some degree of targetability to an administered molecule or drug, as in the case of galactose for hepatocyte in vivo, and evaluating said targetabililty is a clear example of the great benefit proffered by nuclear imaging.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.389-395
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• 2009

To develop the carrier of hydrophobic antifungal agents based on low molecular weight water-soluble chitosan (LMWSC), LMWSC was chemically modified with deoxycholic acid (DA) which is one of the bile acid as a hydrophobic group. The nanoparticles (WSCDA) using DA conjugated LMWSC were characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmittance electron microscope (TEM). The particle size of WSCDA ranged from 250 to 350 nm and increased with the number of DA substitution. The loaded itraconazole as an antifungal agent WSCDA nanoparticles (WSCDA-ITCN) were prepared by solvent evaporation method. The drug content and the loading efficiency were investigated approximately $9{\sim}10%$ and $61{\sim}68%$ by UV spectrophotometer, respectively. The release of drug from nanoparticles was slow and showed sustained release characteristics. Based on the results of release study that the higher DA contents in WSCDA, the slower the releasing rate, the WSCDA-ITCN could be used as an excellent antifungal agent.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.607-611
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• 2007

To improve transfection efficiency, we prepared histidine-low molecular weight water-soluble chitosan (LMWSC) having the potential to form complex with DNA as a cationic polymer. Histidine-LMWSC was synthesized by the esterification reaction and removing phthaloyl group. The histidine-LMWSC was characterized using FT-IR, $^1H$ NMR spectra. Histidine-LMWSC was complexed with plasmid DNA (pDNA) in various polymer/DNA (N/P) weight ratios, and the complex was identified using gel retardation assay. The particle sizes of the hisitidine-LMWSC/DNA complexes were measured on a DLS instrument by fixing the histidine-LMWSC/DNA weight ratio of 10/1. Owing to the utilization of a large excess amount of cationic LMWSC against anionic DNA, the particle size of histidine-LMWSC/DNA complexes was in the range of 100~200 nm. Therefore, histidine-LMWSC will be useful in the development of gene carriers.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.15-22
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• 2007

An oil-in-water solvent evaporation method was used to prepare the cyclosporin A (CyA)-loaded nanoparticles varying in poly (D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) polymer (RG 502H, RG 503H) and the amount of additive ethyl myristate (EM) or chitosan (CS). The particles were characterized for drug loading and entrapment efficiency by HPLC, surface morphology by scanning electron microscopy, particle size by dynamic light scattering and surface charge by Zetapotential. The results showed drug loadings ranging from 10.9% to 15.8% with high encapsulation efficiency (82.0-97.8%). SEM and DLS studies showed discrete and spherical particles with smooth surfaces and mean size ranging 257.6-721.7 nm. The additive EM or CS did not change the mean sizes of the nanoparticles, whereas by the coating effect of CS, the Zetapotential values of the CS-added nanoparticles were moved to the more positive direction as the amount of CS was increased. From the pharmacokinetic analysis, the nanoparticles formulations showed the higher bioavailability and MRT than $Neoral^{\circledR}$ While little adding effect of EM or CS was detected in pharmacokinetic profile when RG 503H was used as polymer carrier, more noticeable different pharmacokinetic behaviors could be observed in case of RC 502H. EM incorporation was found to elevate the $K_{el}$, whereas CS coating resulted in the decrease of F and $K_{el}$, which seems to be due to the function of CS as a barrier and a mucoadhesive coating.