Aramaki Kenji, Adachi Keita, Maeda Miho, Mata Jitendra, Kamimoto-Kuroki Junko, Tsukamoto Daisuke, Konno Yoshikazu
Graduate School of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan.
Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia.
Materials (Basel). 2020 Jul 9;13(14):3066. doi: 10.3390/ma13143066.
Bicelles have been intensively studied for use as drug delivery carriers and in biological studies, but their preparation with low-cost materials and via a simple process would allow their use for other purposes as well. Herein, bicelles were prepared through a semi-spontaneous method using a mixture of hydrogenated soybean lecithin (SL) and a nonionic surfactant, polyoxyethylene cholesteryl ether (ChEO), and then we investigated the effect of composition and temperature on the structure of bicelles, which is important to design tailored systems. As the fraction of ChEO () was increased, a bimodal particle size distribution with a small particle size of several tens of nanometers and a large particle size of several hundred nanometers was obtained, and only small particles were observed when ≥ 0.6, suggesting the formation of significant structure transition (liposomes to bicelles). The small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) spectrum for these particles fitted a core-shell bicelle model, providing further evidence of bicelle formation. A transition from a monomodal to a bimodal size distribution occurred as the temperature was increased, with this transition taking place at lower temperatures when higher SL-ChEO concentrations were used. SANS showed that this temperature-dependent size change was reversible, suggesting the SL-ChEO bicelles were stable against temperature, hence making them suitable for several applications.
双分子层囊泡作为药物递送载体以及在生物学研究中已得到深入研究，但其采用低成本材料并通过简单工艺制备将使其也能用于其他目的。在此，通过半自发方法，使用氢化大豆卵磷脂（SL）和非离子表面活性剂聚氧乙烯胆固醇醚（ChEO）的混合物制备了双分子层囊泡，然后我们研究了组成和温度对双分子层囊泡结构的影响，这对于设计定制系统很重要。随着ChEO的比例（）增加，获得了具有几十纳米的小粒径和几百纳米的大粒径的双峰粒径分布，并且当≥0.6时仅观察到小颗粒，这表明形成了显著的结构转变（脂质体转变为双分子层囊泡）。这些颗粒的小角中子散射（SANS）光谱符合核壳双分子层囊泡模型，为双分子层囊泡的形成提供了进一步的证据。随着温度升高，粒径分布从单峰转变为双峰，当使用更高的SL-ChEO浓度时，这种转变在较低温度下发生。SANS表明这种与温度相关的尺寸变化是可逆的，这表明SL-ChEO双分子层囊泡对温度稳定，因此使其适用于多种应用。
