A Novel Preparation Technique for Human Nasal Respiratory Mucosa to Disclose Its Glycosylation Pattern for Bioadhesive Drug Delivery

• Published in: Pharmaceutics Vol. 15; no. 3; p. 973
• Main Authors: Gausterer, Julia Clara, Schlager, Michael, Ahmadi, Navid, Nieratschker, Michael, Dahm, Valerie, Wirth, Michael, Arnoldner, Christoph, Honeder, Clemens, Gabor, Franz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.03.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Analysis; Carbohydrates; Chemical properties; Drug delivery systems; Drugs; Glycosylation; glycotargeting; intranasal drug delivery; Lectins; Materials; Medical research; mucoadhesion; Nasal mucosa; Otolaryngology; Physiological aspects; Plant lectins; Proteins; Vehicles; WGA; Austria; United States > US; Germany; WGA; mucoadhesion; intranasal drug delivery; glycotargeting; lectins
• ISSN: 1999-4923; 1999-4923
• DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics15030973

To shed some light on glycotargeting as a potential strategy for nasal drug delivery, a reliable preparation method for human nasal mucosa samples and a tool to investigate the carbohydrate building blocks of the glycocalyx of the respiratory epithelium are required. Applying a simple experimental setup in a 96-well plate format together with a panel of six fluorescein-labeled lectins with different carbohydrate specificities allowed for the detection and quantification of accessible carbohydrates in the mucosa. As confirmed by binding experiments at 4 °C, both quantitatively by fluorimetry and qualitatively by microscopy, the binding of wheat germ agglutinin exceeded that of the others by 150% on average, indicating a high content of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and sialic acid. Providing energy by raising the temperature to 37 °C revealed uptake of the carbohydrate-bound lectin into the cell. Moreover, repeated washing steps during the assay gave a slight hint as to the influence of mucus renewal on bioadhesive drug delivery. All in all, the experimental setup reported here for the first time is not only a suitable approach to estimating the basics and potential of nasal lectin-mediated drug delivery but also meets the needs for answering a broad variety of scientific questions involving the use of ex vivo tissue samples.