Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




Computer Simulations for Improved Liposome Design

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 25 Oct 2015
The extensive use of computer simulations has enabled researchers to design an improved class of liposomes for use in targeted delivery of toxic chemotherapeutic agents.

Liposomes are vesicles comprising a hydrophilic core enclosed by a membrane that contains mostly phospholipids and sometimes one or more types of proteins. The lipid membrane shields any material that it contains (such as a drug or nucleic acid) from interaction with the blood, while the proteins recognize and interact with complementary proteins on the membrane of a diseased or dysfunctional cell.

The primary weakness of the liposome delivery method is linked to the relative fragility of the vesicle. Studies of this model of delivery have shown that in many cases less than 10% of the drugs transported by liposomes are delivered to tumor cells. Often, the liposome breaks open before it reaches its target, and the drug is absorbed into the body's organs, including the liver and spleen, resulting in toxic side effects.

Investigators at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, PA, USA) and colleagues at the University of California, Davis (USA) and the Colorado School of Mines (Golden, CO, USA) developed computer simulations that enabled them to propose designs for more stable liposomes.

In a paper published in the September 18, 2015, online edition of the journal ACS Nano they proposed the design for a nanoparticle carrier that combined three existing motifs into a single construct: a liposome that was stabilized by anchoring it to an enclosed solid core via extended polymeric tethers that were chemically grafted to the core and physisorb into the surrounding lipid membrane.

They suggested that such a design would exhibit several enticing properties, among them: (i) the anchoring would stabilize the liposome against a variety of external stresses, while preserving an aqueous compartment between core and membrane; (ii) the interplay of design parameters such as polymer length or grafting density would enforce strong constraints on nanoparticle size and hence ensures a high degree of uniformity; and (iii) the physical and chemical characteristics of the individual constituents would equip the construct with numerous functionalities that could be exploited in many ways.

"Even with current forms of targeted drug delivery, treatments like chemotherapy are still very brutal. We wanted to see how we could make targeted drug delivery better," said senior author Dr. Markus Deserno, professor of physics at Carnegie Mellon University.

Related Links:
Carnegie Mellon University
University of California, Davis
Colorado School of Mines



Gold Member
Fully Automated Cell Density/Viability Analyzer
BioProfile FAST CDV
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
cTnI/CK-MB/Myo Test
Finecare cTnI/CK-MB/Myo Rapid Quantitative Test
New
Malaria Test
STANDARD Q Malaria P.f/Pan Ag
Read the full article by registering today, it's FREE! It's Free!
Register now for FREE to LabMedica.com and get access to news and events that shape the world of Clinical Laboratory Medicine.
  • Free digital version edition of LabMedica International sent by email on regular basis
  • Free print version of LabMedica International magazine (available only outside USA and Canada).
  • Free and unlimited access to back issues of LabMedica International in digital format
  • Free LabMedica International Newsletter sent every week containing the latest news
  • Free breaking news sent via email
  • Free access to Events Calendar
  • Free access to LinkXpress new product services
  • REGISTRATION IS FREE AND EASY!
Click here to Register








Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel
Image: The tiny clay-based materials can be customized for a range of medical applications (Photo courtesy of Angira Roy and Sam O’Keefe)

‘Brilliantly Luminous’ Nanoscale Chemical Tool to Improve Disease Detection

Thousands of commercially available glowing molecules known as fluorophores are commonly used in medical imaging, disease detection, biomarker tagging, and chemical analysis. They are also integral in... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The cancer stem cell test can accurately choose more effective treatments (Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati)

Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more

Microbiology

view channel
Image: The lab-in-tube assay could improve TB diagnoses in rural or resource-limited areas (Photo courtesy of Kenny Lass/Tulane University)

Handheld Device Delivers Low-Cost TB Results in Less Than One Hour

Tuberculosis (TB) remains the deadliest infectious disease globally, affecting an estimated 10 million people annually. In 2021, about 4.2 million TB cases went undiagnosed or unreported, mainly due to... Read more

Pathology

view channel
Image: The ready-to-use DUB enzyme assay kits accelerate routine DUB activity assays without compromising data quality (Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock)

Sensitive and Specific DUB Enzyme Assay Kits Require Minimal Setup Without Substrate Preparation

Ubiquitination and deubiquitination are two important physiological processes in the ubiquitin-proteasome system, responsible for protein degradation in cells. Deubiquitinating (DUB) enzymes contain around... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: The HIV-1 self-testing chip will be capable of selectively detecting HIV in whole blood samples (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Disposable Microchip Technology Could Selectively Detect HIV in Whole Blood Samples

As of the end of 2023, approximately 40 million people globally were living with HIV, and around 630,000 individuals died from AIDS-related illnesses that same year. Despite a substantial decline in deaths... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford Nanopore\'s sequencing platform and Cepheid\'s GeneXpert system to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases (Photo courtesy of Cepheid)

Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions

Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.