Recombinant Nanobiotechnology for Swallowable Insulin: Innovations in Noninvasive Diabetes Therapy
Recombinant Oral Insulin Nanobiotechnology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33687/ricosbiol.03.011.90Keywords:
recombinant insulin, nanobiotechnology, oral peptide therapy, mucoadhesive nano-carriers, glucose-responsive delivery, molecular bioengineering, noninvasive diabetes therapyAbstract
The global burden of diabetes mellitus continues to rise, creating an urgent demand for innovative and patient-friendly insulin delivery systems that improve long-term metabolic control. Although conventional injectable insulin remains the therapeutic cornerstone, its invasive administration leads to discomfort, inconvenience, and poor adherence, particularly among individuals requiring lifelong therapy. Recent advances in recombinant peptide engineering and nanobiotechnology are revolutionizing diabetes treatment by introducing swallowable insulin formulations that replicate physiological insulin secretion with greater precision and convenience.
Recombinant insulin analogs are now stabilized through nanoencapsulation within biocompatible and pH-responsive polymers, as well as mucoadhesive matrices that protect them from gastric and enzymatic degradation. These nanoformulations facilitate targeted intestinal absorption by interacting with mucosal receptors, thereby enhancing permeability and bioavailability. Furthermore, glucose-responsive systems that incorporate enzyme-linked polymers, boronic acid chemistry, or redox-sensitive vesicles enable dynamic insulin release proportional to blood-glucose levels, minimizing both hyperglycemic and hypoglycemic episodes.
At the molecular level, optimizing the sequences of recombinant insulin has made it more stable when it folds, more resistant to proteolysis, and faster at binding to receptors. The integration of these engineered peptides with multifunctional nanocarriers has resulted in intelligent oral delivery platforms capable of synchronized insulin release in response to physiological cues. Such convergence of molecular biology, nanomaterials science, and biomedical engineering represents a decisive step toward achieving noninvasive and patient-centered diabetes management. Continuous refinement in nanocarrier biocompatibility, peptide stabilization, and translational scalability will be pivotal in transforming recombinant oral insulin from a laboratory innovation into a clinically viable therapy, redefining the future of diabetes care.
Downloads
References
Ahmed, S., Gupta, P. K., and Li, X. (2023). Chitosan derivatives in biopharmaceutical nanocarriers. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 241, 124521. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.124521
American Diabetes Association. (2024). Standards of medical care in diabetes—2024. Diabetes Care, 47(Suppl 1), S1–S162. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc24-SINT
Arbit, E., Kidron, M., and Arbit, E. (2022). Noninvasive insulin systems: New directions. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 191, 109001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2022.109001
Chalasani, K., Russell-Jones, G. J., and Jain, S. K. (2021). Vitamin B12-mediated oral delivery revisited. Journal of Controlled Release, 338, 520–529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2021.08.055
Choudhary, P., Ahlqvist, E., and Danne, T. (2022). Translational aspects of oral insulin. Current Diabetes Reviews, 18(5), 489–497. https://doi.org/10.2174/1573399817666210920102515
Deng, Z., Wang, L., and Liu, Y. (2025). AI-guided formulation modeling of oral peptides. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 13, 145212. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2025.145212
Drucker, D. J. (2020). Advances in oral peptide therapeutics. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, 19(4), 277–289. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41573-020-0008-4
Eldor, R., Neutel, J., and Kandeel, F. (2021). Evaluating recombinant oral insulin analogs. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, 23(6), 1457–1463. https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.14358
Fonte, P., Araújo, F., and Sarmento, B. (2021). Oral insulin delivery: How far are we? Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, 15(4), 789–804. https://doi.org/10.1177/19322968211004830
Gu, Z., Wan, T., and Li, Y. (2022). Enzyme-nanocapsule integration for smart insulin release. ACS Nano, 16(9), 14211–14225. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.2c04218
Hassan, N. A., El-Sherbiny, I. M., and Smyth, H. D. C. (2022). Thiolated chitosan nanogels for mucosal insulin delivery. Carbohydrate Polymers, 283, 119191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.119191
International Diabetes Federation. (2021). IDF diabetes atlas (10th ed.). Brussels, Belgium: Author.
Kaur, G., Narasimhulu, C. A., and Ponnusamy, T. (2023). Lipid-based insulin encapsulation and lymphatic uptake. Nanomedicine, 46, 102681. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nano.2023.102681
Khan, R., Wahab, A., and Mishra, A. (2023). Intestinal receptor targeting for enhanced insulin absorption. Molecular Pharmacology, 102(4), 356–365. https://doi.org/10.1124/molpharm.123.000678
Kulkarni, U., Mahor, A., and Singh, S. (2023). Advances in oral insulin nanocarriers: Molecular and functional insights. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 197, 114829. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addr.2023.114829
Lin, Y., Zhang, H., and Wang, J. (2022). PEG-modified insulin nanoparticles for controlled uptake. Journal of Controlled Release, 349, 281–293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2022.06.061
Mehta, A., Sharma, P., and Patel, R. (2024). Recombinant insulin folding and nano-encapsulation strategies. Biotechnology Progress, 40(2), e3241. https://doi.org/10.1002/btpr.3241
Morishita, M., and Peppas, N. A. (2021). Is the oral route possible for peptides? Drug Discovery Today, 26(9), 2201–2209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drudis.2021.06.007
Owens, D. R. (2025). Future perspectives on insulin therapeutics. Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 21(2), 88–103. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-024-00990-y
Padua, D. M., Costa, E. C., and Santos, A. C. (2023). Nano-biotechnological strategies for oral biopharmaceuticals. Biomacromolecules, 24(11), 6142–6157. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00891
Sarmento, B., Martins, J. P., and Veiga, F. (2023). Polymer-lipid hybrids for peptide oral delivery. Biomacromolecules, 24(3), 998–1008. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.2c01145
Yu, J., Zhang, Y., and Gu, Z. (2023). Glucose-responsive vesicular systems for oral biotherapeutics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(15), e2301121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2301121120
Zhang, Z., Liu, Y., and Wang, X. (2023). Recombinant analog insulin delivery via a pH-sensitive hydrogel system. Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 112(5), 1345-1355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xphs.2023.02.015
Additional Files
Published
Data Availability Statement
No new data were generated or analyzed in this study. All information discussed in this review is derived from previously published literature, which is appropriately cited within the manuscript.
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Rehan H. Naqvi, Zameer Ahmed, Sambreen Zameer

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

