Studies on the entrapment and stability of liposomes containing sulfatide from human brain.

Reverse-phase evaporation vesicles containing cerebroside sulfate (sulfatide) from human brain were prepared and their stability and efficiency for entrapment of bovine serum albumin were studied. It has been found that increasing the content of sulfatide from 0 to 15 mol% in the vesicles increases the encapsulation for bovine serum albumin by 0.7- to 3.1-fold, depending on the ratio of solvent:buffer used during liposome preparation. The presence of sulfatide also enhances the stability of the liposomes. Our results suggest that the ability of sulfatide to increase the captured volume and to bring charges to membrane surface may be responsible for the increased protein encapsulation and stability of the sulfatide-containing reverse-phase evaporation vesicles.