J Liposome Res. 2017 Jan 8:1-26. doi: 10.3109/08982104.2016.1166510. [Epub ahead of print]

Physical properties and biological interactions of liposomes developed as a drug carrier in the field of regenerative medicine.

Lewicki S¹, Leśniak M¹, Machaj EK², Antos-Bielska M³, Trafny EA⁴, Kocik J¹, Pojda Z².

Abstract

Liposomes are used for encapsulation of the active compounds in different therapies, with the increasing frequency. The important areas of clinical applications of liposomes are cancer targeted treatment, antibiotic delivery or regenerative medicine. The liposomes can transfer both hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds and have the lipid bilayer which imitates the cell membrane. Liposomes additionally may extend half-live period of drugs and protect them against the elimination in different ways, such as phagocytosis, enzymatic cleavage or exclusion by detoxification. The size and charge of liposomes play an important role in drug distribution and absorption into the cell. Limited data is available on the effects of liposomes on stem cells and progenitor cells. In this article we examined the effect of charged conventional liposomes on growth of mesenchymal and blood stem cells isolated from umbilical cord. The data suggest a likelihood, that positively charged liposomes could impair stem cell growth and metabolism. Different methodological approaches allowed for the selection of negatively charged liposomes for further experiments, as the only type of liposomes, which has the lowest cytotoxicity and does not affect hematopoietic cell proliferation.