Cubosomes as drug delivery system: Recent advance / 第二军医大学学报

ABSTRACT

Cubosomes are self-assembled nanostructured particles formed by aqueous lipid and surfactant systems. Cubosomes are thermodynamically stable; they have a structure like "honeycombed" with bicontinuous domains of water and lipid in which surfactant assembles into bilayers and twisted into a three dimension, periodic, and minimal surface, forming a tightly packed structure. The properties of cubosomes, such as its unique bicontinuous cubic phase liquid crystals, its ability to solubilize hydrophobic, hydrophilic, and amphiphilic molecules at the same time, its biodegradability by simple enzyme action, its strong bioadhesion ability, and its simple preparation, make them a promising vehicle for drug delivery. Based on recent reports, this review introduces the structure, preparation, exosyndrome and drug delivery potential of cubosomes.