Effects of PEG-lipids on permeability of phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol liposomes in buffer and in human serum.

The permeability of liposomal membranes was studied as a function of the amount of incorporated PEG-lipid. The fluorescent dyes ethidium, propidium and 5(6)-carboxy fluorescein were used as markers for measurements of spontaneous leakage. The results show that addition of up to 8 mol% of PEG(2000)-DSPE into liposomal membranes of DSPC/Cho and EPC/Cho reduces the permeability of carboxyfluorescein in buffer solution. In contrast, the leakage of the more amphiphilic dye ethidium was not to any measurable extent affected by PEG-lipid inclusion. Another important difference was that ethidum leakage showed a clear dependence on temperature whereas leakage of carboxyfluorescein from pegylated liposomes did not. We conclude that the mechanisms by which the two dyes permeate the liposomal bilayer are qualitatively different. Both ethidium and carboxyfluorescein did interact with human serum components in a way that made measurements in serum unreliable. The more hydrophilic ethidium analogue propidium was shown not to interact with human serum components to any detectable extent. This made propidium suitable for permeability determinations in human serum. It was found that liposomes composed of pure EPC or EPC with 5 mol% DSPE-PEG, displayed a dramatic increase in permeability when subjected to a medium composed of 20% human serum in buffer. Addition of 40 mol% cholesterol to the EPC bilayers reduced the observed release rate in human serum substantially, whereas no stabilizing effect was observed upon PEG-lipid inclusion.

Effect of polyethyleneglycol-phospholipids on aggregate structure in preparations of small unilamellar liposomes.

Phospholipids with covalently attached poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG lipids) are commonly used for the preparation of long circulating liposomes. Although it is well known that lipid/PEG-lipid mixed micelles may form above a certain critical concentration of PEG-lipid, little is known about the effects of PEG-lipids on liposome structure and leakage at submicellar concentrations. In this study we have used cryogenic transmission electron microscopy to investigate the effect of PEG(2000)-PE on aggregate structure in preparations of liposomes with different membrane compositions. The results reveal a number of important aggregate structures not documented before. The micrographs show that enclosure of PEG-PE induces the formation of open bilayer discs at concentrations well below those where mixed micelles begin to form. The maximum concentration of PEG-lipid that may be incorporated without alteration of the liposome structure depends on the phospholipid chain length, whereas phospholipid saturation or the presence of cholesterol has little or no effect. The presence of cholesterol does, however, affect the shape of the mixed micelles formed at high concentrations of PEG-lipid. Threadlike micelles form in the absence of cholesterol but adapt a globular shape when cholesterol is present.

Cytotoxicity and subcellular localization of boronated phenanthridinium analogues.

Binding and toxicity of boronated phenanthridinium analogues were studied in vitro using cultured human malignant glioma cells. The compounds, 5-ortho- (5-o-CP), 5-para- (5-p-CP), 5-nido- (5-n-CP) and 6-nido-carboranyl phenanthridinium (6-n-CP) showed varying toxic effects. The cells were exposed to the compounds for 2 or 24 h. The span between non-toxic and toxic concentrations seemed to be very narrow. 5-p-CP was the most toxic compound, causing total cell death at a concentration of 5 micrograms/ml cell culture medium. None of the compounds showed toxic effects at a concentration of 1 microgram/ml. Viable cells incubated with the compounds at this concentration showed a > 100-fold accumulation of boron. Only approximately 1/4 of this accumulation was found in cells permeabilized and inactivated with acetone. Fluorescent images of acetone-treated cells showed clear uptake of the compounds in the cell nucleus, as for ethidium bromide, while for viable cells binding to structures other than DNA was also observed. These results were confirmed by subcellular boron determination. All tested compounds intercalate into DNA, as was demonstrated in cell-free systems with calf thymus DNA. The hypothesis is that the compounds are trapped in the cellular membranes of viable cells because of their lipophilicity, before reaching nuclear DNA.

A method to detect leakage of DNA intercalators through liposome membranes.

A method to detect leakage of water-soluble intercalators such as ethidium bromide and propidium iodide from liposomes (egg-lecithin and egg-lecithin/cholesterol) by means of fluorescence is presented. The addition of excess DNA outside the liposomes brings about intercalation of released dye with the DNA. The increase in fluorescence intensity that results from the dye-DNA complex is used to detect the degree of dye release. Titration and surfactant-induced leakage measurements display the suitability of the method. Spontaneous leakage measurements show that propidium has much lower leaking rates than those of ethidium. This is probably due to the less lipophilicity of propidium as estimated from the partition coefficients between octanol and medium. Stabilizing the egg-lecithin membranes with cholesterol strongly reduces the leaking rates for ethidium while no effect is detected for the slow leaking rates of propidium. Lowering the temperature from 25 to 6 degrees C results in lower leaking rates for both dyes.