Engineering approaches of smart, bio-inspired vesicles for biomedical applications

Abraham, Tanishq; Mao, Michelle; Tan, Cheemeng

doi:10.1088/1478-3975/aac7a2

Cited by 19 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 194 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We investigated the stability of hybrid vesicles under conditions designed to mimic industrial sterilisation and preservation processes. Our hybrid vesicles were composed of the lipid POPC blended with one of two PBd-b-PEO diblock copolymers of different length: PBd 22 -PEO 14 or PBd 12 -PEO 11 . We explored the full compositional parameter space from pure lipid to pure polymer vesicle compositions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, both processes proved to be too destructive, causing vesicles to become unstable and release their entire contents. Only vesicles composed of the pure components were investigated: 100% POPC, 100% 14 and 100% PBd 12 -PEO 11 . As 100% CF release was observed in all cases (Figure 2a), it was considered extremely unlikely that hybrid blends would perform any better.…”

Section: Autoclaving and Lyophilisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hybrid vesicles aim to combine the properties of biomimetic liposomes and synthetic polymersomes into composite membrane-bound capsules with broader tuneability of material properties [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. This expanded material parameter space is anticipated to be beneficial in the development of hollow vesicle structures for technological applications such as sensors, biotechnology, nanoreactors, synthetic biology and formulated products, including those intended for medicinal purposes [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Release of encapsulated CF from 100 nm hybrid vesicles following freeze-thaw-vortex (FTV) cycles and size distributions before and after four FTV cycles. CF release% is plotted against membrane composition for hybrid vesicles composed of POPC and (a) PBd 12 -PEO11 , or (b) PBd 22 -PEO 14 . Data are shown for between one and four FTV cycles.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Hybrid Vesicle Stability under Sterilisation and Preservation Processes Used in the Manufacture of Medicinal Formulations

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sterilisation and preservation of vesicle formulations are important considerations for their viable manufacture for industry applications, particular those intended for medicinal use. Here, we undertake an initial investigation of the stability of hybrid lipid-block copolymer vesicles to common sterilisation and preservation processes, with particular interest in how the block copolymer component might tune vesicle stability.We investigate two sizes of polybutadiene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) polymers (PBd 12 -PEO 11 and PBd 22 -PEO 14 ) mixed with the phospholipid 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) considering the encapsulation stability of a fluorescent cargo and the colloidal stability of vesicle size distributions. We find that autoclaving and lyophilisation cause complete loss of encapsulation stability under the conditions studied here. Filtering through 200 nm pores appears to be viable for sterilisation for all vesicle compositions with comparatively low release of encapsulated cargo, even for vesicle size distributions which extend beyond the 200 nm filter pore size. Freeze-thaw of vesicles also shows promise for the preservation of hybrid vesicles with high block copolymer content. We discuss the process stability of hybrid vesicles in terms of the complex mechanical interplay between bending resistance, stretching elasticity and lysis strain of these membranes and propose strategies for future work to further enhance the process stability of these vesicle formulations.Polymers 2020, 12, 914 2 of 17 liposomes can have inherent instabilities. Their membranes are highly flexible under bending deformations, but weak under stretching deformations, with a lysis strain of less than 5% [28,29]. The labile fluidity of the membrane can lead to transient membrane defects that frustrates long term encapsulation stability and lipid peroxidation can cause chemical instabilities in these structures.Polymersomes, due to their synthetic nature, are often less biocompatible than their lipid counterparts but offer greater mechanical stability and a broader chemical parameter space [30]. Amphiphilic copolymers that form vesicles can have several different architectures, the most common being AB diblock (A = hydrophilic, B = hydrophobic) [6], ABA [31] and ABC tri-block polymers [32] where A and C are chemically different hydrophilic blocks and finally graft copolymers [33]. Formation of polymersomes depends on the amphiphilic co-polymers molecular weight, polydispersity and hydrophilic/hydrophobic block lengths ratio, which is ideally less than 1:3 to form vesicular structures [34]. Their membranes are often thicker than liposome membranes, which provides greater bending resistance and their enhanced elasticity under stretching makes them tough and durable [22]. The polymer chemistry can be designed to minimise chemical instability but also to incorporate novel functionality. In blending liposomes and polymersomes to create hybrid vesicles, the ambition is to combine advantageous properties of these m...

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Autoclaving and Lyophilisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Hybrid Vesicle Stability under Sterilisation and Preservation Processes Used in the Manufacture of Medicinal Formulations

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Conversely, a few laboratories have begun to assemble more complex ecosystems consisting of distinct artificial cells or artificial cells mixed with natural living cells (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). Artificial cells that integrate within the wider cellular community may help to uncover the physical-chemical underpinnings of cellular behavior and provide for opportunities to engineer advanced drug delivery systems (11,12). Despite the potential and future implications of this technology, artificial cells that interact with eukaryotic cells under physiological conditions have not been demonstrated thus far.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Artificial cells drive neural differentiation

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We report the construction of artificial cells that chemically communicate with mammalian cells under physiological conditions. The artificial cells respond to the presence of a small molecule in the environment by synthesizing and releasing a potent protein signal, brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Genetically controlled artificial cells communicate with engineered human embryonic kidney cells and murine neural stem cells. The data suggest that artificial cells are a versatile chassis for the in situ synthesis and on-demand release of chemical signals that elicit desired phenotypic changes of eukaryotic cells, including neuronal differentiation. In the future, artificial cells could be engineered to go beyond the capabilities of typical smart drug delivery vehicles by synthesizing and delivering specific therapeutic molecules tailored to distinct physiological conditions.

show abstract

Gene Expression Inside Liposomes: From Early Studies to Current Protocols

Stano

2019

Chemistry A European J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Synthesizing proteins inside liposomes and other microcompartments is a well‐established practice. However, the origin of this research is not from the distant past, dating back to 1999–2004, when the first successful attempts were published. Protein synthesis inside artificial compartments is now under strong expansion in the context of synthetic biology (in bottom‐up approaches), and, in particular, it strongly contributes to the construction of artificial cell‐like systems. These systems, often called “synthetic cells”, can be used to model cellular processes, including membrane‐centered ones. They are very innovative models that complement traditional studies and promise future applications. This review does not discuss all current directions in synthetic cell research; in particular, it does not include all kinds of artificial compartments. Instead, it is uniquely dedicated to the analysis of historical and technical developments of protein synthesis inside liposomes, highlighting a selected list of open questions. One of the goals is to note the importance of mastering liposome technology together with cell‐free systems for the successful realization of this specific type of synthetic cell. With this aim, four currently employed protocols are compared and discussed, with a major emphasis on the droplet transfer method, which is attractive due to its simplicity and encapsulation efficiency.

show abstract

Engineering approaches of smart, bio-inspired vesicles for biomedical applications

Cited by 19 publications

References 194 publications

Hybrid Vesicle Stability under Sterilisation and Preservation Processes Used in the Manufacture of Medicinal Formulations

Hybrid Vesicle Stability under Sterilisation and Preservation Processes Used in the Manufacture of Medicinal Formulations

Artificial cells drive neural differentiation

Gene Expression Inside Liposomes: From Early Studies to Current Protocols

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About