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Constant Pressure-controlled Extrusion Method for the Preparation of Nano-sized Lipid Vesicles
Published on: June 22, 2012
Preparation of giant lipid vesicles with controllable sizes by a modified hydrophilic polydimethylsiloxane microarray
Ting Fan1, Qiong Wang1, Ning Hu2
1Key Laboratory of Biorheological Science and Technology (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education, Bioengineering College, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China.
Abstract:
This paper presents an accessible method to prepare giant lipid vesicles (GLVs) with controllable sizes based on the quick formation of patterned lipid films. Lipid solutions naturally penetrate into arrayed micro-apertures on a modified hydrophilic Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chip, and excess lipid films on the surface are removed by a glass slide. Three main factors, the depth and diameter of the micro-apertures and concentration of the lipid solution, were investigated to obtain an optimal preparation condition. Based on this condition, the formed GLVs have a controllable size and narrow size distribution (the standard deviation < 5 μm). By controlling the diameter of the micro-aperture and concentration of the lipid solution, GLVs with various sizes (23, 48, 66 and 82 μm) can be formed.
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