Characterizing Liposome Formation, Structure, and Stability with Complementary Techniques

Save the Date! January 23rd 2018

Liposomes have been used in drug discovery and drug delivery for some time, and the biophysical characterization of these systems and their payloads is critical to understanding and optimizing their fabrication and function. This study looks at optimal conditions for extruding liposomes as well as their stability under different conditions.

Our aim is to further educate the public about the intricacies of liposome formation and characterization as measured by Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) from the NanoSight product range, Dynamic and Electrophoretic Light Scattering (DLS/ELS) from the Zetasizer product range, and Small-angle and Wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) from the X-ray analytical product range within Malvern Panalytical.

A broad range of characterization information and combination of both NanoSight and Zetasizer systems helped further optimize fabrication and understand the function of liposomes as well as labeling efficiency of fluorescent lipids. NTA through NanoSight provided number-based high resolution sizing, accurate distribution profiles, concentration (particles/mL), and fluorescence measurements. DLS provided excellent reproducibility, mean size and PDI measurements over a broad range and non-invasive trend analysis. ELS provided zeta potential as a functionality and stability metric of particles. SAXS allowed to investigate the bilayer stacking in MLVs and from WAXS data the order of the alkyl chains (gel phase vs. liquid phase) could be studied as a function of sample temperature.