Liposomes are a leading drug delivery vehicle due to their versatility and ability to provide protection to encapsulated drugs, which enhances stability and prevents degradation.
Liposomes consist of one or more lipid bilayers enclosing an aqueous core, and can be used to encapsulate and deliver a wide variety of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs.
Cryo-TEM imaging studies can visualize individual liposome particles, and reveal particle morphology, lamellarity including bilayer thickness, uniformity, particle size distribution, estimations of PEG layer thickness, and cargo encapsulation. These values can be used to inform batch-to-batch, scale-up, and process development change comparisons.
Characterize individual liposomes with cryo-TEM imaging
Cryo-TEM can show you if each individual liposome is unilamellar, multilamellar, or multivesicular. Cryo-TEM imaging studies can also assist in determining PEG layer thickness. For a detailed 3D view of each particle, cryo-electron tomography can be performed.
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How do you measure the PEG layer in liposome formulations?
We cannot directly visualize a PEG layer with cryo-TEM imaging, but oftentimes we can give an estimated PEG layer thickness in the summary based on the distance between regularly packed particles. The distance is measured between regularly packed particles (if present) across several images and a range is provided.