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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Targeted Plasma Membrane Delivery of a Hydrophobic Cargo Encapsulated in a Liquid Crystal Nanoparticle Carrier
Published on: February 8, 2017
Targeted and sustained drug delivery using PEGylated galactosylated liposomes
Chittima Managit1, Shigeru Kawakami, Makiya Nishikawa
1Department of Drug Delivery Research, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
Abstract:
To achieve a sustained and targeted delivery of liposomes to liver parenchymal cells (PC), we modified distearoyl-L-phosphatidylcholine (DSPC)/cholesterol (Chol) (60:40) (DSPC/Chol) liposomes with a galactosylated cholesterol derivative (Gal-C4-Chol), and polysorbate (Tween) 20 or 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-polyethylene glycol (PEG(x)-DSPE). After intravenous injection, DSPC/Chol/Gal-C4-Chol (60:35:5) (Gal) liposomes were rapidly eliminated from the blood circulation and mostly recovered in the liver. The blood elimination of DSPC/Chol/Gal-C4-Chol/Tween 20 (55:35:5:5) (Tween 20-Gal) liposomes was slightly reduced as compared to Gal-liposomes. In contrast, a significant reduction in the blood elimination was observed with DSPC/Chol/Gal-C4-Chol/PEG(2000)-DSPE (59:35:5:1) (PEG(2000)-Gal) liposomes. Hepatic uptake of DSPC/Chol/Gal-C4-Chol/PEG(350)-DSPE (59:35:5:1) (PEG(350)-Gal) liposomes was intermediate between PEG(2000)-Gal-liposomes and Tween 20-Gal-liposomes. The uptake of PEG(350)-Gal-liposomes by liver PC was 7.7-fold higher than that by non-parenchymal cells (NPC). These results suggest that PEG(350)-DSPE can control the delivery rate of Gal-liposomes to liver PC without losing its targeting capability.
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