This paper reports a new method of cross-linking electrospun zein fibers using citric acid as a non-toxic cross-linker to enhance the water stability and cytocompatibility of zein fibers for tissue engineering and other medical applications. The electrospun structure has many advantages over other types of structures and protein-based biomaterials possess unique properties preferred for tissue ...

Protein–polysaccharide biopolymer particles composed of potential acrylamide inhibitors, including zein, chitosan, alginate, and pectin, were used for mitigation in this study. The synergistic effect zein polysaccharides complex was hypothesized to inhibit formation at high temperature. A reaction model utilizing a glucose asparagine solution heated 170 °C 30 min heating block implemented. Zein...

Zein can be extracted from maize (Zea mays) using ethanol solutions, and recovered from the extract by diluting with water. Dilution to 40% ethanol will precipitate a mixture of zein and maize lipid with 15% lipid. For possible zein applications, such as film production, purer zein is required. Most of the lipid can be removed from the precipitate by selective re-extraction with hexane or ethan...

We have isolated a gene coding for a sulfur-rich zein protein from a maize genomic library. The nucleotide sequence of this gene predicts a protein composed of 180 amino acids, including a 20-amino acid signal peptide. As is true of other zeins, there are no intervening sequences in the gene. Comparison of the nucleotide sequence of this gene with that of a homologous cDNA clone revealed only a...

L-Lysine was microencapsulated by the spray-dry met.hod for improvement of the balance of alllino acids in ruminants. The rumen-bypm;s lllicrocCljJsulc was jJrqmn~d using zein or shellac as an outer coat.ing agcnt [or protection against microbial degradation in the rumen. L-Lysine was generated with a .yield of ,')0% in casp of zein microcapsules and :3:3% in shellac microcapsules and a mean pa...

opaque-2 (o2) is a regulatory locus in maize that plays an essential role in controlling the expression of genes encoding the 22-kD zein proteins. Through DNase I footprinting and DNA binding analyses, we have identified the binding site for the O2 protein (O2) in the promoter of 22-kD zein genes. The sequence in the 22-kD zein gene promoter that is recognized by O2 is similar to the target sit...

Zeins are essential for endosperm modification in quality protein maize" Essential amino acids like lysine and tryptophan are deficient in corn meal because of the abundance of zein storage proteins that lack these amino acids. A natural mutant, opaque 2 (o2) causes reduction of zeins, an increase of nonzein proteins, and as a consequence, a doubling of lysine levels. However, o2's soft inferio...

The current study focuses on utilization of the natural biocompatible polymer zein to formulate simvastatin (SMV) nanoparticles coated with caseinate, to improve solubility and hence bioavailability, and in addition, to modify SMV-release characteristics. This formulation can be utilized for oral or possible depot parenteral applications. Fifteen formulations were prepared by liquid-liquid phas...

BACKGROUND This work focuses on the development of atorvastatin utilizing zein, a natural, safe, and biocompatible polymer, as a nanosized formulation in order to overcome the poor oral bioavailability (12%) of the drug. METHODS Twelve experimental runs of atorvastatin-zein nanosphere formula were formulated by a liquid-liquid phase separation method according to custom fractional factorial d...

The effect of adding a hydrocolloid on the structural, mechanical and barrier properties of zein-based blend films is evaluated. Zein-oleic acid blend film with added xanthan gum (Z-OA-XG) showed higher water solubility (13.09%) and opacity (8.49 AU/mm) than zein-oleic acid (Z-OA) film (10.80% and 5.19 AU/mm, respectively). Furthermore, Z-OA film had greater flexibility with lower Young's Modul...