AFM, ESEM, TEM, and CLSM in liposomal characterization: a comparative study

Abstract

An outstanding aspect of pharmaceutical nanotechnology lies in the characterization of nanocarriers for targeting of drugs and other bioactive agents. The development of microscopic techniques has made the study of the surface and systems architecture more attractive. In the field of pharmaceutical nanosystems, researchers have collected vital information on size, stability, and bilayer organization through the microscopic characterization of liposomes. This paper aims to compare the results obtained by atomic force microscopy, environmental scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy to point out the limits and advantages of these applications in the evaluation of vesicular systems. Besides this comparative aim, our work proposes a simple confocal laser scanning microscopy procedure to rapidly and easily detect the liposomal membrane.

Keywords:

• atomic force microscopy
• transmission electron microscopy
• environmental scanning electron microscopy
• confocal laser scanning microscopy

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dott. Massimo Tonelli (Centro Interdipartimentale Grandi Strumenti, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia) for the technical supports on AFM and ESEM measurements. The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.