Small Angle X-ray and Neutron Scattering: Powerful Tools for Studying the Structure of Drug-Loaded Liposomes
Nanovectors, such as liposomes, micelles and lipid nanoparticles, are recognized as efficient platforms for delivering therapeutic agents, especially those with low solubility in water. Besides being safe and non-toxic, drug carriers with improved performance should meet the requirements of (i) appr...
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| Format: | Online |
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MDPI
2016
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| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4932473/ |
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pubmed-49324732016-07-13 Small Angle X-ray and Neutron Scattering: Powerful Tools for Studying the Structure of Drug-Loaded Liposomes Di Cola, Emanuela Grillo, Isabelle Ristori, Sandra Review Nanovectors, such as liposomes, micelles and lipid nanoparticles, are recognized as efficient platforms for delivering therapeutic agents, especially those with low solubility in water. Besides being safe and non-toxic, drug carriers with improved performance should meet the requirements of (i) appropriate size and shape and (ii) cargo upload/release with unmodified properties. Structural issues are of primary importance to control the mechanism of action of loaded vectors. Overall properties, such as mean diameter and surface charge, can be obtained using bench instruments (Dynamic Light Scattering and Zeta potential). However, techniques with higher space and time resolution are needed for in-depth structural characterization. Small-angle X-ray (SAXS) and neutron (SANS) scattering techniques provide information at the nanoscale and have therefore been largely used to investigate nanovectors loaded with drugs or other biologically relevant molecules. Here we revise recent applications of these complementary scattering techniques in the field of drug delivery in pharmaceutics and medicine with a focus to liposomal carriers. In particular, we highlight those aspects that can be more commonly accessed by the interested users. MDPI 2016-03-28 /pmc/articles/PMC4932473/ /pubmed/27043614 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics8020010 Text en © 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons by Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| repository_type |
Open Access Journal |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
US National Center for Biotechnology Information |
| building |
NCBI PubMed |
| collection |
Online Access |
| language |
English |
| format |
Online |
| author |
Di Cola, Emanuela Grillo, Isabelle Ristori, Sandra |
| spellingShingle |
Di Cola, Emanuela Grillo, Isabelle Ristori, Sandra Small Angle X-ray and Neutron Scattering: Powerful Tools for Studying the Structure of Drug-Loaded Liposomes |
| author_facet |
Di Cola, Emanuela Grillo, Isabelle Ristori, Sandra |
| author_sort |
Di Cola, Emanuela |
| title |
Small Angle X-ray and Neutron Scattering: Powerful Tools for Studying the Structure of Drug-Loaded Liposomes |
| title_short |
Small Angle X-ray and Neutron Scattering: Powerful Tools for Studying the Structure of Drug-Loaded Liposomes |
| title_full |
Small Angle X-ray and Neutron Scattering: Powerful Tools for Studying the Structure of Drug-Loaded Liposomes |
| title_fullStr |
Small Angle X-ray and Neutron Scattering: Powerful Tools for Studying the Structure of Drug-Loaded Liposomes |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Small Angle X-ray and Neutron Scattering: Powerful Tools for Studying the Structure of Drug-Loaded Liposomes |
| title_sort |
small angle x-ray and neutron scattering: powerful tools for studying the structure of drug-loaded liposomes |
| description |
Nanovectors, such as liposomes, micelles and lipid nanoparticles, are recognized as efficient platforms for delivering therapeutic agents, especially those with low solubility in water. Besides being safe and non-toxic, drug carriers with improved performance should meet the requirements of (i) appropriate size and shape and (ii) cargo upload/release with unmodified properties. Structural issues are of primary importance to control the mechanism of action of loaded vectors. Overall properties, such as mean diameter and surface charge, can be obtained using bench instruments (Dynamic Light Scattering and Zeta potential). However, techniques with higher space and time resolution are needed for in-depth structural characterization. Small-angle X-ray (SAXS) and neutron (SANS) scattering techniques provide information at the nanoscale and have therefore been largely used to investigate nanovectors loaded with drugs or other biologically relevant molecules. Here we revise recent applications of these complementary scattering techniques in the field of drug delivery in pharmaceutics and medicine with a focus to liposomal carriers. In particular, we highlight those aspects that can be more commonly accessed by the interested users. |
| publisher |
MDPI |
| publishDate |
2016 |
| url |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4932473/ |
| _version_ |
1613604135918108672 |