The ZwitterZein project general objective is to obtain new macromolecular structures as zwitterionic porous microparticles containing zein and betaine moieties, using effective, cheap, simple and mild preparation procedures, and thus creation of complex composite microparticles as biomedical devices, which can act as specialized antimicrobial drug delivery systems. Consequently, the role of constituent materials (zein, monomers, crosslinkers, CaCO3) and the influence of the different synthesis parameters on the structure and morphology of the designed new materials is aimed to be elucidated in this project, leading to the development of new specialized drug delivery materials based on zwitterionic microparticles.
The ZwitterZein project specific objectives, for the development, characterization and testing of zwitterionic microparticles containing zein and betaine moieties, as complex drug vehicles for targeted delivery, are:
(1) synthesis of porous crosslinked microparticles based on glycidyl methacrylate, N-vinylimidazole and various crosslinking monomers;
(2) preparation of novel zwitterionic porous microparticles containing zein and betaine moieties;
(3) core/shell composite construction by in-situ CaCO3 crystallization;
(4) characterization of all new materials;
(5) study of zwitterionic porous microparticles antimicrobial activity and their drug loading/release capabilities. | 
