Liposome Fusion Mediated by Hydrophobic Magnetic Nanoparticles Stabilized with Oleic Acid and Modulated by an External Magnetic Field

VILLANUEVA, MARTÃ-N E.; GIUDICE, FRANCESCA; AMBROGGIO, ERNESTO; VICO, RAQUEL V.

LANGMUIR

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

Año: 2021 vol. 37 p. 1861 - 1861

0743-7463

embrane fusion is considered relevant in countless scientific areas and biotechnological processes, ranging from vital life events to biomedicine, pharmaceuticals, and materials engineering, among others. In this study, we employed hydrophobic oleic acid (OA)-coated magnetite (Fe3O4) nanoparticles (MNP-OA) as a platform to induce the fusion of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine liposomes [large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs)] in a colloidal dispersion. This fusion was monitored through dynamic light scattering, turbidimetry, and fluorescence assay using the well-known Tb/dipicolinic acid (DPA) complex formation assay. MNP-OA have shown to be able to induce fusion with the mixing of liposomal inner content with direct dependence on the nanoparticle concentration added to the LUVs. Moreover, changes in the permeability of the liposome bilayer, upon the addition of MNP-OA to liposomes, were evaluated by studying the leakage of carboxyfluorescein and of the co-encapsulated