ORCiD
Nejat Düzgüneş: 0000-0001-6159-1391
Department
Biomedical Sciences
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Journal of Biological Chemistry
ISSN
0021-9258
Volume
272
Issue
4
DOI
10.1074/jbc.272.4.2382
First Page
2382
Last Page
2388
Publication Date
2-11-1997
Abstract
Liposomes that destabilize at mildly acidic pH are efficient tools for delivering water-soluble drugs into the cell cytoplasm. However, their use in vivo is limited because of their rapid uptake from circulation by the reticuloendothelial system. Lipid-anchored polyethylene glycol (PEG-PE) prolongs the circulation time of liposomes by steric stabilization. We have found that addition of PEG-PE to the membrane of pH-sensitive liposomes composed of cholesteryl hemisuccinate (CHEMS) and dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) confers steric stability to these vesicles. This modification significantly decreases the pH-dependent release of a charged water-soluble fluorophore, calcein, from liposomes suspended in buffer or cell culture medium. However, the ability of such liposomes to release calcein intracellularly, measured by a novel flow cytometry technique involving dual fluorescence labeling, remains unaltered. As expected, the release of calcein from liposomes endocytosed by cells is inhibited upon pretreatment of the cells with NH4Cl, an inhibitor of endosome acidification. The unique properties of these liposomes were also demonstrated in vivo. The distribution kinetics of 111In-containing CHEMS/DOPE/PEG-PE liposomes injected intravenously into rats has pharmacokinetic parameters similar to control, non-pH-sensitive, sterically stabilized CHEMS/distearoylphosphatidylcholine/PEG-PE liposomes. In contrast, regular pH-sensitive liposomes lacking the PEG-PE component are cleared rapidly. Sterically stabilized pH-sensitive liposomes may therefore be useful for the intracellular delivery in vivo of highly negatively charged molecules such as genes, antisense oligonucleotides, and ribozymes for the treatment of various diseases.
Recommended Citation
Slepushkin, V. A.,
Simões, S.,
Dazin, P.,
Newman, M. S.,
Guo, L. S.,
Pedroso De Lima, M. C.,
&
Düzgüneş, N.
(1997).
Sterically stabilized pH-sensitive liposomes. Intracellular delivery of aqueous contents and prolonged circulation in vivo.
Journal of Biological Chemistry, 272(4), 2382–2388.
DOI: 10.1074/jbc.272.4.2382
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/dugoni-facarticles/644
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
