Formulation and evaluation of ATP-containing liposomes including lactosylated ASGPr ligand

Abstract

An original ligand (Lac-10-Chol) designed to interact with asialoglycoprotein receptors to potentially target hepatocyte was synthesised by grafting a lactose head to a cholesteryl structure, which was then included in liposomes. Preliminary formulation tests led to the selection of conventional formulations based on soybean phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol/DOTAP (± DOPE) (± Lac-10-Chol) that present reproducible absolute entrapment value (1.45 ± 0.10%), with a size of 109 ± 7 nm and a slight positive charge (3.77 ± 1.59 mV). Cell viability (via the MTT test), expressed as the percentage of nontreated cells in HepG2 cells, was very close to the control. Internalization tests evidenced an intracellular penetration of fluorescent liposomes, but no specific ligand effect was demonstrated (P > 0.05). Nevertheless, regarding the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) assay, a slight increase was obtained with liposome loaded with ATP incorporating Lac-10-chol after 24 hours (P < 0.05).

Keywords::

• ATP
• liposome
• DOTAP
• ASGPr
• Lac-10-chol

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express our gratitude to A.C. Bartoletti, A. Maclou, N. Nohile, and F. Samake for their helpful participation in this project.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no financial conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.