GENERATION OF IMMUNOLIPOSOMES USING MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES**
Abstract
Immunoliposomes, or antibody-conjugated liposomes, hold promise as an effective way to target drugs to specific tissues. Currently, we can find in the market immunoliposomes such as Doxil, an anti-cancer drug; Amphotec, an anti-fungal drug; and Allovectin-7, used for gene therapy. However the synthesis methods used are inefficient. The formation of a liposomes is a multi-step process that requires sonication and filtering. In addition, its encapsulation efficiency is low, what leads to the waste, in many cases, of expensive drugs. We use existing microfluidic technology to solve these obstacles to efficient liposomal synthesis. We generated double emulsion drops (a drop inside another drop) where the inner liquid is the drug we want to encapsulate, the middle phase is a solution of lipids and the outer is an aqueous solution where our liposome will be dispersed. The advantage of this method is its high encapsulating efficiency and the control of the size of the liposome. The antibodies will be incubated in the outside of the liposomes. If this technique can be perfected, it could be used to drastically reduce side effects and increase tissue-specific drug targeting for a wide variety of diseases.
Acknowledgements
Supported in part by the Augusta University Provost's office, and the Translational Research Program of the Department of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. Also Agusta University CURS
Recommended Citation
Lawrence*, Meaghan and Guerrero Millan, Josefa
(2018)
"GENERATION OF IMMUNOLIPOSOMES USING MICROFLUIDIC DEVICES**,"
Georgia Journal of Science, Vol. 76, No. 1, Article 18.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.gaacademy.org/gjs/vol76/iss1/18