The in vitro stability of archaeosomes made from novel synthetic membrane-spanning tetraether lipids was evaluated in conditions mimicking those of oral route application in terms of bile salts, serum and low pH..

Novel cationic liposomes, termed "archaeosomes", based on mixtures of neutral/cationic bilayer-forming lipids and archaeobacterial synthetic tetraether-type bipolar lipids show efficient in vitro gene transfection properties and represent a new approach for modulating the lipidic membrane fluidity of the complexes they form with DNA.