Optimization of green nanoparticles based on zein containing miRNA and curcumin for cardiac regenerative medicine.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), especially myocardial infarction (MI), represent the main cause of mortality all over the world. The heart has a limited regenerative capacity compared to other organs. The new releasing systems based on nanotechnology offer an improved way of encapsulating and delivering therapeutics in the target tissue. In this work, green nanoparticles based on zein, a protein from corn kernels, were characterized in terms of size, zeta potential and drug release kinetics. In addition, zein nanoparticles were loaded with curcumin to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity in combination with miRNAs.