ABSTRACT
Peptides and proteins have become the drugs of choice for the treatment of numerous diseases as a result of their incredible selectivity and their ability to provide effective and potent action. The drug delivery systems (DDSs) has to be able to bind the therapeutic protein/peptide in a fashion that does not affect its bioactivity but holds it sufficiently until the DDS reaches its site of action and releases the protein/peptide in a controlled, sustained manner. This chapter aims to present ongoing research on DDSs for proteins and peptides in an informative way and the targeted delivery of such protein and peptide DDSs. A liposome is a spherical vesicle with a membrane composed of a phospholipid bilayer used to deliver a drug or genetic material into a cell. A microparticulate delivery system based on a thiolated chitosan conjugate was developed for the nasal application of peptides. Insulin was used as the model peptide.
