E-Book Overview
A panel of skilled researchers describes in step-by-step detail their best laboratory techniques for elucidating liposome biology. With these readily reproducible methods, investigators can illuminate such critical questions as the attachment of liposmes to cell surfaces, the permeation of liposomes through the plasma membranes, and the stability of liposomes in cellular and nuclear matrices. Each detailed protocol is presented by an investigator who is intimately familiar with its problems and capabilities, and includes a detailed list of materials to be used, troubleshooting tips straight from the benchtop, and notes on pitfalls to avoid.
E-Book Content
Methods in Molecular Biology
TM
VOLUME 199
Liposome Methods and Protocols Edited by
Subhash C. Basu Manju Basu
HUMANA PRESS
Liposomes with Natural and Synthetic Lipids
3
1 Preparation, Isolation, and Characterization of Liposomes Containing Natural and Synthetic Lipids Subroto Chatterjee and Dipak K. Banerjee 1. Introduction The specificity, homogeneity, and availability of large-batch production of liposomes with natural lipids and synthetic lipids have made them an extremely useful tool for the study of diverse cellular phenomena, as well as in medical applications. In many cases, however, the success of the use of liposomes as drug carriers or vaccines and in gene delivery depends entirely on both their formulation and the method of preparation. Liposomes are synthetic analogues of natural membranes. Consequently, in view of the fact that the lipid composition of the cell membrane is fixed, the general concept in the preparation of liposomes is to modify combinations of these lipid mixtures (to emulate the natural membrane) in the presence or absence of a variety of bioactive molecules with diverse functions. The methods for the preparation, isolation