Constant Pressure-controlled Extrusion Method for the Preparation of Nano-sized Lipid Vesicles

Summary

This protocol describes an extrusion method for preparing lipid vesicles of sub-micron sizes with a high degree of homogeneity. This method uses a pressure-controlled system with controlled nitrogen flow rates for liposome preparation. The lipid preparation^1,2, liposome extrusion, and size characterization will be presented herein.

Abstract

Liposomes are artificially prepared vesicles consisting of natural and synthetic phospholipids that are widely used as a cell membrane mimicking platform to study protein-protein and protein-lipid interactions³, monitor drug delivery^4,5, and encapsulation⁴. Phospholipids naturally create curved lipid bilayers, distinguishing itself from a micelle.⁶ Liposomes are traditionally classified by size and number of bilayers, i.e. large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs), small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) and multilamellar vesicles (MLVs)⁷. In particular, the preparation of homogeneous liposomes of various sizes is important for studying membrane curvature that plays a vital role in cell signaling, endo- and exocytosis, membrane fusion, and protein trafficking⁸. Several groups analyze how proteins are used to modulate processes that involve membrane curvature and thus prepare liposomes of diameters <100 - 400 nm to study their behavior on cell functions³. Others focus on liposome-drug encapsulation, studying liposomes as vehicles to carry and deliver a drug of interest⁹. Drug encapsulation can be achieved as reported during liposome formation⁹. Our extrusion step should not affect the encapsulated drug for two reasons, i.e. (1) drug encapsulation should be achieved prior to this step and (2) liposomes should retain their natural biophysical stability, securely carrying the drug in the aqueous core. These research goals further suggest the need for an optimized method to design stable sub-micron lipid vesicles.

Nonetheless, the current liposome preparation technologies (sonication¹⁰, freeze-and-thaw¹⁰, sedimentation) do not allow preparation of liposomes with highly curved surface (i.e. diameter <100 nm) with high consistency and efficiency^10,5, which limits the biophysical studies of an emerging field of membrane curvature sensing. Herein, we present a robust preparation method for a variety of biologically relevant liposomes.

Manual extrusion using gas-tight syringes and polycarbonate membranes^10,5 is a common practice but heterogeneity is often observed when using pore sizes <100 nm due to due to variability of manual pressure applied. We employed a constant pressure-controlled extrusion apparatus to prepare synthetic liposomes whose diameters range between 30 and 400 nm. Dynamic light scattering (DLS)¹⁰, electron microscopy¹¹ and nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA)¹² were used to quantify the liposome sizes as described in our protocol, with commercial polystyrene (PS) beads used as a calibration standard. A near linear correlation was observed between the employed pore sizes and the experimentally determined liposomes, indicating high fidelity of our pressure-controlled liposome preparation method. Further, we have shown that this lipid vesicle preparation method is generally applicable, independent of various liposome sizes. Lastly, we have also demonstrated in a time course study that these prepared liposomes were stable for up to 16 hours. A representative nano-sized liposome preparation protocol is demonstrated below.

Protocol

1. Liposome Preparation

1. Retrieve a 20 mL glass vial with a Teflon-lined cap.
2. Clean all glassware and syringes with chloroform prior to use to prevent contamination.
3. Transfer 100 μL of reagent grade chloroform to the glass vial using a 250 μL air-tight glass syringe.
4. Add 30 μL of reagent grade methanol to the same glass vial using a 100 μL air-tight glass syringe.
5. To prepare a 2 mM 7:1.5:1.5 phosphatidylcholine (POPC): phosphatidylethanolamine (POPE): cholest.......

Discussion

Using the Avestin Liposofast LF-50 Extruder, we demonstrated how small-sized, synthetic liposomes are prepared through a pressure-controlled system. It is important to note that multilamellar vesicles form spontaneously following liposome hydration, which may lead to production of smaller nanoparticles. These small multilamellar vesicles will inevitably flow through the larger polycarbonate membrane pore size, causing heterogeneity in solutions of unilamellar vesicles produced by a large filter pore. Therefore, it is rec.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Name of the reagent	Company	Catalogue number	Comments
Chloroform	Sigma-Aldrich	02432-25ML	95% stabilizers
High Grade Methanol	Sigma-Aldrich	179337-4L
Liposofast LF-50 Extruder	Avestin, Inc.
Phospholipids	Avanti Polar Lipids
Polycarbonate Pores	Avestin, Inc.		25 mm diameter
Drain discs PE	Avestin, Inc.	230600	25 mm diameter