Formulation of interleukin-2 and interferon-alpha containing ultradeformable carriers for potential transdermal...

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Biotechnology
• Dermatology

Background:

• Transfersomes (TF) are highly deformable lipid vesicles capable of non-invasive skin penetration.
• TF can transport both low and high molecular weight molecules across the skin barrier.
• This study focuses on TF loaded with Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and Interferon-alpha (IFN).

Purpose of the Study:

• To formulate and characterize Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and Interferon-alpha (IFN) containing Transfersomes (TF).
• To assess the biological activity and encapsulation efficiency of IL-2 and IFN within TF.
• To evaluate the potential of TF for transdermal immunotherapy.

Main Methods:

• Formulation of TF using phosphatidylcholine and sodium cholate.
• Incorporation of recombinant human IL-2 and hybrid interferon-alpha A/D into TF.
• Isolation of immunotransfersomes via filtration and assessment of biological activity using cell-based assays (CTLL-cell and A549--EMCV) and ELISA.

Main Results:

• High encapsulation efficiency of IL-2 and IFN within TF (75-80%).
• Incorporated IL-2 and IFN retained significant biological activity.
• Optimized lipid-to-protein ratio (90.9/1) enhanced TF association probability.

Conclusions:

• IL-2 and IFN can be effectively encapsulated in TF while maintaining biological activity and sufficient concentrations for immunotherapy.
• TF represent a viable platform for the transdermal delivery of immunotherapeutic agents.
• Future research will explore the transdermal application of these IL-2 and IFN-loaded TF in a murine cancer model.