Learn How Liposomes Are Enhancing Human Progress By Delivery

By Elinor Tran


Liposomes are artificially-assembled vesicles, which refers to the space enclosed within a lipid bilayer. The lipid bilayer is composed of phospholipids with hydrophobic tails and hydrophilic heads, in a fashion so that the heads face the inside and outside of the bubble, and the tails lie in between. Inside the membrane typically exists an aqueous solution, a hydrophilic solute, that is unable to pass through the hydrophobic membrane.

The medical purpose of these artificial vesicles includes that of drug delivery, bio-detoxification, and the transfection of DNA. Because they are composed of a natural lipid bilayer, they are able to merge with other bilayers such as that of a cell membrane. This fusion of bilayers merges the contents of the vesicle and the cell.

The ability of the liposome to fuse with biological membranes composed of bilayers is the property that makes it effective in providing drug delivery. Manufacturing these Liposomes in a solution of a particular drug produces vesicles containing that drug. The bilayer prevents the drug from dissolving into surrounding solution before reaching the site at which it is intended to merge, such as the cell membrane.

Empty Liposomes can also be used to detoxify the body when it has been exposed to an excess drug intake. They are typically injected into the bloodstream, and fashioned to capture the drug contents within them by means of a transmembrane pH gradient. Consequently surrounded by the vesicle's lipid bilayer, the drug is forbidden from continuing to react with the body, reducing the harmful effects of excessive dosage.

Sometimes, genetic material will be delivered to cells similar to the way drugs are delivered. This is completed as a method of modifying the DNA within a cell. By inserting new DNA into a cell, it can begin to function with entirely new abilities.

Though the construction of Liposomes is achieved artificially, the characteristic lipid bilayer easily merges with naturally-occurring body membranes. They work with the body while completing their method of delivery. The introduction of these vesicles into drug and genetic applications has expanded the role of human intervention in cell processes, promoting increased control of the way that certain drugs react with the body.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment