1. Lyotropic Liquid-Crystalline Nanosystems as Drug Delivery Agents for 5-Fluorouracil: Structure and Cytotoxicity
- Author
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Paola Astolfi, Barbara Rossi, Francesco Vita, Cristina Marchini, Oriano Francescangeli, Michela Pisani, Lisa Vaccari, Valentina Gambini, and Elisabetta Giorgini
- Subjects
Ionic bonding ,02 engineering and technology ,010402 general chemistry ,01 natural sciences ,Drug Delivery Systems ,Phase (matter) ,Lyotropic ,Electrochemistry ,Organic chemistry ,General Materials Science ,Lipid bilayer ,Spectroscopy ,Chemistry ,Hexagonal phase ,Surfaces and Interfaces ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Condensed Matter Physics ,Lipids ,Liquid Crystals ,Nanostructures ,0104 chemical sciences ,Chemical engineering ,Membrane curvature ,Drug delivery ,Fluorouracil ,Fatty Alcohols ,Nanocarriers ,0210 nano-technology ,Synchrotrons - Abstract
Lyotropic cubic liquid-crystalline systems have received increasing attention due to their unique microstructural and physicochemical properties as efficient nanocarriers for drug delivery. We report the preparation and characterization of bulk phases and cubosome dispersions of phytantriol loaded with the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil, in neutral and anionic forms. In both cases, a Pn3m cubic phase was observed. The phytantriol phase behavior can be influenced by the addition of ionic agents, and, to this purpose, a positively charged lipid, such as N-[1-(2,3-dioleoyloxy)propyl]-N,N,N-trimethylammonium chloride salt (DOTAP), was included in the studied formulations. It was found to induce a variation of the spontaneous membrane curvature of the phytantriol lipid bilayer, generating a transition from the Pn3m to the Im3m cubic phase. When 5-fluorouracil, in its anionic form (5-FUs), was encapsulated in these latter systems, a further transition to the HII hexagonal phase was observed as a consequence of ...
- Published
- 2017
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