pH-sensitive non-phospholipid vesicle and macrophage-like cells: binding, uptake and endocytotic pathway

Phospholipid and non-phospholipid vesicles are extensively studied as drug delivery systems to modify pharmacokinetics of drugs and to improve their action in target cells. It is believed that the major barrier to efficient drug delivery is entrapment of drugs in the endosomal compartment, since this eventually leads to its degradation in lysosomes. For these reasons, the knowledge of internalization pathway plays a fundamental role in optimizing drug targeting. The aim of this work is to characterize pH-sensitive Tween 20 vesicles, their interaction with macrophage-like cells and their comparison with pH-sensitive liposomes. The effect of different amounts of cholesteryl hemissucinate on surfactant vesicle formation and pH-sensitivity was studied. To evaluate the initial mode of internalization in Raw 264.7 and the intracellular fate of neutral and pH-sensitive formulations, flow cytometry in presence and in absence of selected inhibitors and fluorescence microscopy in absence and presence of specific fluorescent endocytotic markers were used. The obtained results showed that the surfactant vesicle pH-sensitivity was about two or three fold higher than that obtained with pH-sensitive liposomes in the presence of serum in vitro. The uptake mechanism of surfactant vesicles, after incubation with macrophage-like cells, is comparable to that of liposomes (clathrin-mediated endocytosis).