Tuesday 18 June 2019 16:00 – 17:00 A. Payatakes Seminar Room
” Liposomes and cellular vesicles: Νovel applications for effective drug targeting”
Dr. Antonia Marazioti Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences (ICE-HT)
Abstract
Liposomes are well known for their potential applications as efficient carriers for drug delivery, with the most common administration route so far being intravenous administration. Little is known about the potential therapeutic advantages as well as the retention of topically administered liposomal drugs into confined body cavities. In the present study the retention of various types of liposomes in the pleural cavity of healthy mice and mice with malignant pleural effusion (MPE) following their intrapleural administration was monitored by live animal imaging. The experimental results reveal that certain liposome preparative parameters, such as the liposome size/lamellarity and coating with PEG-lipids, significantly affect the local bioavailability of liposomes. Furthermore, no difference was noticed in liposomal retention between tumorinoculated (MPE) and healthy mice, indicating the stability of liposomes in the presence of effusion. Interestingly, when we administered intrapleurally a liposomal formulation of deltarasin, to an experimental mouse model of MPE, fluid accumulation was halted, indicating the high potential of this route of administration as a method to increase the therapeutic potential of liposomal drugs for local diseases. In parallel, we studied the exosome inspired cell derived vesicles (CVs) as alternatives to artificial liposomes for targeted drug delivery. We isolated CVs from different cell lines and characterized their properties, morphology, cytotoxicity, integrity, cellular uptake as well as their brain-targeting potential, in vitro and in vivo. Our results provide new insights in the CVs physiology and potential for effective and targeted drug delivery.