Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, Brazil.
Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, Brazil; Institute of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Münster, Germany.
Prog Lipid Res. 2021 Apr;82:101096. doi: 10.1016/j.plipres.2021.101096. Epub 2021 Apr 5.
Vesicles, generally defined as self-assembled structures formed by single or multiple concentric bilayers that surround an aqueous core, have been widely used for biomedical applications. They can either occur naturally (e.g. exosomes) or be produced artificially and range from the micrometric scale to the nanoscale. One the most well-known vesicle is the liposome, largely employed as a drug delivery nanocarrier. Liposomes have been modified along the years to improve physicochemical and biological features, resulting in long-circulating, ligand-targeted and stimuli-responsive liposomes, among others. In this process, new nomenclatures were reported in an extensive literature. In many instances, the new names suggest the emergence of a new nanocarrier, which have caused confusion as to whether the vesicles are indeed new entities or could simply be considered modified liposomes. Herein, we discussed the extensive nomenclature of vesicles based on the suffix "some" that are employed for drug delivery and composed of various types and proportions of lipids and others amphiphilic compounds. New names have most often been selected based on changes of vesicle lipid composition, but the payload, structural complexity (e.g. multicompartment) and new/improved proprieties (e.g. elasticity) have also inspired new vesicle names. Based on this discussion, we suggested a rational classification for vesicles.
囊泡通常被定义为由单层或多层同心双层膜围绕水核自组装形成的结构，已广泛应用于生物医学领域。它们可以是天然存在的（例如外泌体），也可以是人工合成的，尺寸范围从微米到纳米。最著名的囊泡之一是脂质体，它主要用作药物递送纳米载体。多年来，脂质体经过修饰以改善物理化学和生物学特性，产生了长循环、配体靶向和刺激响应的脂质体等。在这个过程中，大量文献报道了新的命名法。在许多情况下，新名称表明出现了新的纳米载体，这导致了人们的困惑，即这些囊泡是否确实是新的实体，或者它们是否可以简单地被认为是修饰的脂质体。在此，我们根据后缀“some”讨论了广泛用于药物递送的囊泡命名法，这些囊泡由各种类型和比例的脂质和其他两亲性化合物组成。新名称的选择通常基于囊泡脂质组成的变化，但有效载荷、结构复杂性（例如多隔室）和新/改进的特性（例如弹性）也启发了新的囊泡名称。基于此讨论，我们提出了一种基于后缀“some”的囊泡分类法。
