Mixed lipid/polymer nanostructures: From advanced materials to drug delivery systems

Natassa Pippa^{1, 2}*, Athanasios Skandalis², StergiosPispas², Costas Demetzos², Marcin Libera³, Andrzej Marcinkowski³, Barbara Trzebicka³

¹Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Panepistimiopolis, Zografou, 15771, Greece

²Theoretical and Physical Chemistry Institute, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, 48 Vassileos Constantinou Aveneu, 11635, Greece

³Centre of Polymer and Carbon Materials, Polish Academy of Sciences, Zabrze, Warszawa, 00901, Poland

Adv. Mater. Lett., 2017, 8 (4), pp 428-434

DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2017.1414

Publication Date (Web): Mar 14, 2017

E-mail: natpippa@pharm.uoa.gr

Full Article

Abstract

The aim of this investigation was to study the alterations of the physicochemical characteristics of L-α-phosphatidylcholine, hydrogenated (Soy) (HSPC) and dipalmitoyl phosphatidyl choline (DPPC) liposomes, caused by the incorporation of a poly (oligoethylene glycol acrylate)-b-poly(lauryl acrylate) (POEGA-PLA) block copolymer at different molar ratios. We used Dynamic and Electrophoretic Light Scattering to determine the size and the ζ-potential; imaging techniques for investigate the structure and Static Light Scattering for quantifying the fractal morphology of the prepared nanosystems in situ. The size of mixed nanostructures became smaller with the incorporation of the block copolymer into the lipid membrane. The size of the prepared nanosystems ranged between 50-80nm. The fractal dimension (d_f) decreased significantly with the incorporation of block copolymer into liposomal bilayers. The morphology of DPPC:POEGA-PLA mixed nanostructures (with d_f equal to 1.8) is open (more loose). On the other hand, the morphology of HSPC: POEGA-PLA (with d_f equal to 2.1) is more compact and dense. The molar ratio of the POEGA-PLA did not alter the morphology of the mixed nanostructures, expect from HSPC:POEGA-PLA system. Finally, we studied the drug loading properties of the mixed nanostructures in order to examine their properties as advanced Drug Delivery nanosystems.