whereRU: Aresty Poster 142 - Micelle-lipid Complexes Used in Drug Delivery by Aresty Posters 2009

Micelle-lipid Complexes Used to Improve Chemotherapeutic Drug Delivery

Micelle-forming amphiphilic scorpion-like macromolecules (AScMs) can be used for medicinal applications such as the systemic delivery of hydrophobic anti-cancer drugs. While a drug-loaded micelle will increase the drug?s solubility and stability in vivo, a combined micelle-lipid complex may improve its delivery applications. Specifically, tailoring the ratios of DOPE (1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine) a neutral lipid, and DOTAP (1,2-diacyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane) a cationic lipid, may increase its chemotherapeutic efficacy. Micelle-lipid complexes can exist as mixed micelles or polymer-coated liposomes, depending on the polymer lipid weight ratio and method of assembly. By gradually adding lipids to AScMs, the zeta potential of the complex is increased in a controlled fashion. This complex allows for tunable zeta potentials that can be used to optimize cellular uptake. A design of experiments was used to evaluate optimal polymer-lipid ratios for chemotherapeutic drug loading. This work suggests that micelle-lipid complexes can be designed to optimize the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents.