A variety of water-soluble polymers, when attached to a liposome, substantially increase liposome circulation half-life in animals. However, in certain conditions, liposomes modified with the most widely used polymer, polyethylene glycol (PEG), induce an IgM response resulting in an accelerated blood clearance (ABC) of the liposome upon the second injection. Modification of liposomes with other water-soluble polymers: HPMA (poly[N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide]), PVP (poly(vinylpyrrolidone)), PMOX (poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline)), PDMA (poly(N,N-dimethyl acrylamide)), and PAcM (poly(N-acryloyl morpholine)), increase circulation times of liposomes; but a precise comparison of their ability to promote long circulation or induce the ABC effect has not been reported. To obtain a more nuanced understanding of the role of polymer structure/MW to promote long circulation, we synthesized a library of polymer diacyl chain lipids with low polydispersity (1.04–1.09), similar polymer molecular weights (2.1–2.5 kDa) and incorporated them into 100 nm liposomes of a narrow polydispersity (0.25–1.3) composed of polymer-lipid/hydrogenated soy phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol/diD: 5.0/54.5/40/0.5. We confirm that HPMA, PVP, PMOX, PDMA and PAcM modified liposome have increased circulation times in rodents and that PVP, PDMA, PAcM do not induce the ABC effect. We demonstrate for the first time, that HPMA does not cause an ABC effect whereas PMOX induces a pronounced ABC effect in rats. We find that a single dose of liposomes coated with PEG and PMOX generate an IgM response in rats towards the respective polymer. Finally, in this homologous polymer series, we observe a positive correlation (R = 0.84 in rats, R = 0.92 in mice) between the circulation time of polymer-modified liposomes and polymer viscosity; PEG and PMOX, the polymers that can initiate an ABC response were the two most viscous polymers. Our findings suggest that that polymers that do not cause an ABC effect such as, HPMA or PVP, deserve further consideration as polymer coatings to improve the circulation of liposomes and other nanoparticles.

For four decades, liposomes composed of both naturally occurring and synthetic lipids have been investigated as delivery vehicles for low molecular weight and macromolecular drugs. These studies paved the way for the clinical and commercial success of a number of liposomal drugs, each of which required a tailored formulation; one liposome size does not fit all drugs! Instead, the physicochemical properties of the liposome must be matched to the pharmacology of the drug. An extensive biophysical literature demonstrates that varying lipid composition can influence the size, membrane stability, in vivo interactions, and drug release properties of a liposome. In this review we focus on recently described synthetic lipid headgroups, linkers and hydrophobic domains that can provide control over the intermolecular forces, phase preference, and macroscopic behavior of liposomes. These synthetic lipids further our understanding of lipid biophysics, promote targeted drug delivery, and improve liposome stability. We further highlight the immune reactivity of novel synthetic headgroups as a key design consideration. For instance it was originally thought that synthetic PEGylated lipids were immunologically inert; however, it’s been observed that under certain conditions PEGylated lipids induce humoral immunity. Such immune activation may be a limitation to the use of other engineered lipid headgroups for drug delivery. In addition to the potential immunogenicity of engineered lipids, future investigations on liposome drugs in vivo should pay particular attention to the location and dynamics of payload release.

New conjugation chemistry for polysaccharides, exemplified by dextran, was developed to enable the attachment of therapeutic or other functional moieties to the polysaccharide through cleavable acetal linkages. The acid-lability of the acetal groups allows the release of therapeutics under acidic conditions, such as that of the endocytic compartments of cells, regenerating the original free polysaccharide in the end. The physical and chemical behavior of these acetal groups can be adjusted by modifying their stereoelectronic and steric properties, thereby providing materials with tunable degradation and release rates. We have applied this conjugation chemistry in the development of water-soluble siRNA carriers, namely acetal-linked amino-dextrans, with various amine structures attached through either slow- or fast-degrading acetal linker. The carriers with the best combination of amine moieties and structural composition of acetals showed high in vitro transfection efficiency and low cytotoxicity in the delivery of siRNA.

No abstract