Copyright © 2018 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Article Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Vol. 18, 2361–2369, 2018 www.aspbs.com/jnn Self-Assembled Tea Tannin Graft Copolymer as Nanocarriers for Antimicrobial Drug Delivery and Wound Healing Activity Denial Mahata 1 , Ahindra Nag 2 , Golok B. Nando 1 ∗ , Santi M. Mandal 3 ∗ , and Octavio L. Franco 4 5 ∗ 1 Rubber Technology Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, WB, India 2 Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, WB, India 3 Central Research Facility, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721302, WB, India 4 Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, UCB, Brasília, 70990-100, Brazil 5 S-Inova Biotech, Pos-Graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Catolica Dom Bosco, Campo Grande, MS, 79117-900, Brazil Green chemistry polymers from renewable resources have recently received much more attention from pharmaceutical researchers. However, the appropriate application of a polymer depends on its chemical nature, biocompatibility and microstructure. Here, tannin polyphenols from the common beverage, tea, are used to develop a novel self-assembled porous capsule as a microstructure of hydrogel for versatile biological applications, such as drug delivery, antioxidant and wound healing activity. Hydrogel has been successfully used for the delivery of both anticancer and antimicrobial drugs. The developed material shows excellent biocompatibility and antioxidant activity in vitro. The scratch assay for in vitro wound healing activity reveals their higher potential to repair the damaged cells in comparison to control. Keywords: Tea Tannin, Graft Copolymer, Self-Assembly, Hydrogel, Drug Delivery, Wound Healing. 1. INTRODUCTION Polymeric biocompatible materials from renewable biomass are an emerging branch within sustainable management that reconciles both the environment and economics. These efficient and cost-effective renewable starting-materials are arousing growing interest in indus- trial value-added processes. Tea is one of the most widely consumed beverages in which tannins are major bioac- tive flavonoids, with oligomers of catechin, epicatechin, epigallocatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, and condensed tannin. 1 The multi-functional biological and pharma- cological properties of tea polyphenols, such as anti- inflammatory, antineoplastic, vasodilatory, antioxidative, chemopreventive and antimicrobial activity, have attracted much attention from scientists in recent years. 2–4 The prod- ucts of tea tannin polyphenols’ degradation result in low molecular catechol and gallic acid, which are both strong cross-linkers binding to tissue surfaces through covalent ∗ Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed. or noncovalent interactions, and they can act as a mus- cle adhesive with high elasticity. 5 As drug delivery in the human system requires a biocompatible carrier to improve the therapeutic efficacy, tea polyphenols have become a choice of interest, and they have the poten- tial to be converted into a drug carrier. The self-assembly of macromolecules is a unique approach which leads to well-organized micro to nanostructures. 6 7 Microencapsu- lation strategies for polyphenols have received significant attention in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic indus- tries for their increased stability, lower toxicity and pH- responsive degradable properties. 8 9 However, the physical entrapment of polyphenol is less viable because of low availability and short lifetime in targeted cells. 10 In addition to drug-carrying ability of a novel mate- rial would be highly desirable because a prolonged wound healing process leads to an increased risk for microbial infection that may be life-threatening. 11 12 Wound dress- ing materials should maintain several basic physiologi- cal characteristics, such as a moist environment to resist exudates, air permeability to receive oxygen, a barrier to J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 2018, Vol. 18, No. 4 1533-4880/2018/18/2361/009 doi:10.1166/jnn.2018.14307 2361