Multifarious Potentials of Tropical Animal-Derived Biopolymers in Drug Delivery: Lessons from the African Snail Mucin
Authors: U. Adikwu Michael 
Published: July 2010

Mucins are the major macromolecular constituents of the mucous secretions that
coat the oral cavity and the respiratory, gastrointestinal and urinogenital tracts of animal. They
are responsible for the viscoelastic properties of the secretions, providing protection for the
exposed delicate epithelial surfaces from microbial and physical injuries. Secretory mucins are
typically of very high molecular mass (over 1 mDa) and have hundreds of O-linked
saccharides constituting between 50% and 80% of the molecule by weight. The saccharides
are based, at present, on seven core structures and can vary in length from disaccharides to
oligosaccharides of approximated 20 monosacharides and exhibit astonishing diversity. The
biological relevance of this diversity is not fully understood, but one possibility is that they act
as ‘decoy’ receptors for the prevention from binding of pathogens to epithelial cell. It has been
shown for a long time that the saccharides are linked to serine and threonine residues of the
protein scaffold. However, owing to the technical problems associated with deglycosylation of
mucins, the biochemical characterization of the protein backbone of the large discrete mucins
has been fraught with difficulties. Mucins play a key role in the host intestine. From acting as
a protective, physical barrier, they are responsible for producing certain protective enzymes
that are responsible for the host intestinal defensive mechanism. The defensins and magainins
that protect the host in the intestine are largely responsible for the prevention of many
microbial diseases. The integrity of the intestinal mucin may also help as a physical barrier to
the entrance of bacteria to the underling tissue. Thus organisms that produce enzymes capable
of hydrolyzing mucins can easily establish infections. Thus, the microorganisms that produce
sialidases are capable of hydrolyzing cervical mucin and such organisms have been implicated
in the pathogenesis of sexually transmitted infections in the female genital tract. Hence, the
detection of these enzymes may be indicative of the presence of invading organisms and may
be used as a diagnostic tool. Mucins may play a key role in the pharmaceutical industry as a
drug delivery agent if properly harnessed. Mucins are ubiquitous in many human tissues. Thus
we can talk of intestinal, ocular, ovarian and salivary mucins, etc. They are also negatively
charged. This makes mucin a good candidate for drug delivery as they can be conjugated to
positively charged drug molecules and targeted to the respective tissues. Its biomaterial
properties can readily be modified by the use of other cationic polymers such as chitosan.
Apart from the modification of the biomaterials properties, cationic polymers help to stabilize
mucin as it can readily degrade to its motifs. Their viscosity and solubility properties can
readily be modified using micro-molar concentrations of ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid
(EDTA) which chelates the calcium content of muicn. It is highly biocompatible, non-toxic
and easily biodegradable. Mucins are often used for modelling of mucoadhesive and
bioadhesive systems. Thus the interpenetration of various polymers at the mucin-polymer
interface at a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature is often used to explain
the mechanism of mucoadhesion. The molecular bridges which result between mucin-polymer
interpenetration accounts for the adhesive strength. Apart from these bridges, the electronic
properties of mucin help in mucoadhesion. Mucin, therefore, has high potential as a
pharmaceutical excipient if adequately harnessed