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Background
Melissa Kanzelberger grew up in
Green Bay, Wisconsin. She received a Bachelor of
Science degree in biomedical engineering in the
spring of 2005 at Michigan Technological University.
Upon graduation, she entered the Biomedical
Engineering Ph.D. program at the University of Texas
at Austin.
Research Summary
In-vivo studies using insulin in Wistar rats have
demonstrated the return of diabetic rats to normal
glucose levels hours after administration of this
oral delivery system without harmful hypoglycemic
effects. A significant bioavailabilty of the orally
delivered protein has been observed, reaching levels
as high as 20% in rats. We have recently
demonstrated the ability to deliver calcitonin using
this same delivery system. Studies with other
proteins are in progress.
We are now investigating the development of new
protein delivery systems for oral applications. Such
systems will be used for the release of insulin,
interferon, anti-hemophilic factors and other
important proteins. In the past decade, cell
cultures from human colon adenocarcinoma cells were
developed as a new approach to model
gastrointestinal absorption. The Caco-2 cell line
has attracted the interest of the research community
due to its ability to differentiate without
difficult cell culturing techniques. We will
investigate the behavior of the new protein delivery
systems on a model biological environment. For this
purpose, a gastrointestinal cell culture model, the
Caco-2 cell line, will be employed to investigate
the cytotoxic effects of the polymeric carrier and
its effects on the cell monolayer integrity. We will
examine the importance of various P-glycoproteins as
“positive transporters” for the facilitated
transport of proteins across epithelial cell sin the
CaCo-2 line. The safety and pharmacokinetics of
different dosages of selective modulators of the
P-glycoprotein efflux transporter, administered
alone or with different dosages of the protein
delivery systems will be studied.
Publications
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