Preparation, Characterization and ex vivo Skin Permeability Evaluation of Type I Collagen-Loaded Liposomes

Mingyuan Li,1 Meng Li,1 Xinyi Li,1 Wanhui Shao,1 Xiujuan Pei,2 Ruyue Dong,1 Hongmeng Ren,1 Lin Jia,1 Shiqin Li,1 Wenlin Ma,1 Yi Zeng,1 Yun Liu,1 Hua Sun,1 Peng Yu1 1College of Biotechnology/Tianjin Enterprise Key Laboratory for Application Research of Hyaluronic Acid, Tianjin University of Science & Technology, Tianjin, 300457, People’s Republic of China; 2Tianjin Shiji Kangtai Biomedical Engineering Co.,Ltd, Tianjin, 300462, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Hua Sun; Peng Yu, Email sunhua@tust.edu.cn; yupeng@tust.edu.cnPurpose: In the present study, we prepared collagen liposomes with the addition of polyol, which is expected to not only increase the solubility of collagen but also improve skin penetration.Methods: Collagen liposomes were prepared by the film dispersion method, and their characteristics, integrity and biosafety were evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-VIS spectroscopy, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The transdermal absorption of collagen and collagen liposomes were tested by an ex vivo horizontal Valia-Chien diffusion cell system.Results: We first demonstrated that collagen extracted from bovine Achilles tendon was type I collagen. The results of DLS measurement and TEM observation showed that the collagen liposomes were spherical in shape with average diameter (75.34± 0.93 nm) and maintained high stability at low temperature (4°C) for at least 42 days without toxicity. The encapsulation rate of collagen liposomes was 57.80 ± 0.51%, and SDS-PAGE analysis showed that collagen was intact in liposomes. Finally, permeability studies indicated that the collagen-loaded liposomes more easily penetrated the skin compared to collagen itself.Conclusion: This study proposed a new method to improve the bioavailability and permeability of bovine type I collagen, which improves the applicability of collagen in biomedicine, cosmeceuticals and pharmaceutical industries.Graphical Abstract: Keywords: collagen, liposome, physicochemical properties of collagen, skin penetration, drug delivery