Combining liposomes with different types of nanoparticles (magnetic, plasmonic) recently emerged as a very intriguing approach that holds the potential to generate biocompatible multifunctional nanovesicles for drug delivery applications. The importance of such nanohybrids resides in their ability to release the incorporated therapeutic agents in a very controllable and reproducible manner as a result of their interaction with several external stimuli (NIR lasers and/or magnetic fields). Owing to their amphiphilic character, the liposomes have the capacity to incorporate hydrophilic as well as hydrophobic molecules of interest.<br/>In this letter we present an original new method developed in our laboratory for the synthesis of such hybrid nanoobjects: plasmonic liposomes, magnetoliposomes and plasmonic magnetoliposomes. Two strategies have been developed for the creation of the nanoobjects. Firstly, the plasmonic liposomal nanocarriers (PLiN) have been prepared by taking advantage of electrostatic interactions between small unilamelar cationic liposomes and negatively charged biocompatible gold nanoparticles. This allowed the synthesis of liposomes decorated on their outer surface with plasmonic nanoparticles. On the other hand, a completely different strategy has been developed for the synthesis of magnetoliposomes (MLip). In this case the hydrophobic/hydrophilic interactions between small SPIONs and neutral phospholipids have been used for MLips synthesis thus allowing the incorporation of hydrophobic SPIO nanoparticles into the liposomal lipid bilayer.<br/>The as-synthesized liposomes have been analyzed by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (PCS), Zeta Potential Measurements and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Hyperspectral Microscopy. Their plasmonic properties have been evaluated using SERS for excitation wavelengths ranging from UV to NIR (325-830 nm). The hyperthermic properties of the nanohybrids arising from their interaction with an external laser or a magnetic field have been assessed for NIR lasers (785 nm) and external magnetic fields with intensities ranging between 5 and 60 kA/m and frequencies between 100-400 kHz. The toxicity of the nanohybrids have been assessed in-vitro on different cell lines using the standard MTT assay.

Magneto/plasmonic nanoliposomes for drug delivery applications: Synthesis and characterization

256th National Meeting (2018)

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