Monodisperse Uni- and Multicompartment Liposomes.

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Liposomes are crucial phospholipid vesicles for drug delivery and artificial cells.
• Microfluidic techniques have advanced liposome formation, but detailed process understanding and high-yield methods for complex liposomes are lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a microfluidic method for producing uniform liposomes with controlled single or multiple compartments.
• To investigate the role of interfacial energy control in liposome formation.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a surfactant-assisted microfluidic approach for liposome synthesis.
• Employed water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsion systems with controlled interfacial energies via an outer phase surfactant.
• Verified liposome structure using nanopore formation and confocal fluorescence microscopy.

Main Results:

• Achieved production of uniform, single-bilayer liposomes ranging from 25 to 190 μm.
• Demonstrated the capability to create liposomes with or without multiple inner compartments.
• Confirmed liposomes can serve as compartments for cell-free gene expression.

Conclusions:

• The developed microfluidic technique offers precise control over liposome formation, yielding uniform structures with tunable complexity.
• This method facilitates high-throughput production of liposomes suitable for advanced applications, including cell-free expression systems and microreactor networks.