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Dear Colleagues,

Liposomes are the first nanomedicines approved three decades back. From then to today, liposomal drug delivery have consistently played a central role in nanomedicine. Liposomal drugs are marketed medicines with great potential in the field of cancer therapy as well as other chronic and infectious diseases. Liposomes are vesicular systems composed of phospholipid bilayers, and their size ranges from a few tens of nanometers up to 1000 nanometers. They are biocompatible and biodegradable delivery nanosystems. Stealth liposomes are a sub-category of liposomes with biocompatible and low protein binding polymer coatings exhibiting a higher circulation time in the human blood, avoiding decomposition from plasma proteins. The quality by design and scale-up of liposomal formulations have attracted the interest of both the academic and industrial community.

This Special Issue is concerned with the applications of liposomes in physical chemistry, biology, pharmaceutical technology, and medicine. Topics may include physicochemical studies, self-assembly behavior, interactions of lipids/liposomes with active pharmaceutical ingredients and/or other excipients, the impact of liposomes on the drug release mechanism, as well as the utilization of liposomes as models of cellular membranes. The formation, preparation, and drug loading/release of lipid-based nanocarriers, liposomes, and hybrid liposomal carriers (combination with other nanomaterials) are hot topics in the current literature. Special attention will be given to applications of liposomes in the delivery of proteins/nucleic acids, in vaccinology, and immunology of cancer. Both original manuscripts and reviews are welcome.

Dr. Natassa Pippa
Dr. Asterios (Stergios) Pispas
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomedicines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

liposomes
lipids
drug delivery
controlled release
protein delivery
vaccines
cancer immunotherapy
transdermal delivery
lipid-based nanoparticles

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 3115 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Aqueous Heat Method for the Preparation of Hybrid Lipid–Polymer Structures: From Preformulation Studies to Protein Delivery

by Natassa Pippa, Nefeli Lagopati, Aleksander Forys, Maria Chountoulesi, Hektor Katifelis, Varvara Chrysostomou, Barbara Trzebicka, Maria Gazouli, Costas Demetzos and Stergios Pispas

Biomedicines 2022, 10(6), 1228; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomedicines10061228 - 24 May 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2045

Abstract

Liposomes with adjuvant properties are utilized to carry biomolecules, such as proteins, that are often sensitive to the stressful conditions of liposomal preparation processes. The aim of the present study is to use the aqueous heat method for the preparation of polymer-grafted hybrid liposomes without any additional technique for size reduction. Towards this scope, liposomes were prepared through the combination of two different lipids with adjuvant properties, namely dimethyldioctadecylammonium (DDA) and D-(+)-trehalose 6,6′-dibehenate (TDB) and the amphiphilic block copolymer poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-b-poly(lauryl methacrylate) (PLMA-b-PDMAEMA). For comparison purposes, PAMAM dendrimer generation 4 (PAMAM G4) was also used. Preformulation studies were carried out by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The physicochemical characteristics of the prepared hybrid liposomes were evaluated by light scattering and their morphology was evaluated by cryo-TEM. Subsequently, in vitro nanotoxicity studies were performed. Protein-loading studies with bovine serum albumin were carried out to evaluate their encapsulation efficiency. According to the results, PDMAEMA-b-PLMA was successfully incorporated in the lipid bilayer, providing improved physicochemical and morphological characteristics and the ability to carry higher cargos of protein, compared to pure DDA:TDB liposomes, without affecting the biocompatibility profile. In conclusion, the aqueous heat method can be applied in polymer-grafted hybrid liposomes for protein delivery without further size-reduction processes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Liposomal Drug Delivery: Three Decades from the First Liposomal Drug Delivery Medicine in Clinical Use)

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Review

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13 pages, 2594 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

Advancing Medicine with Lipid-Based Nanosystems—The Successful Case of Liposomes

by Hugo Luiz, Jacinta Oliveira Pinho and Maria Manuela Gaspar

Biomedicines 2023, 11(2), 435; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/biomedicines11020435 - 02 Feb 2023

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3167

Abstract

Nanomedicine, a promising area of medicine, employs nanosized tools for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of disease. Particularly, liposomes, lipid-based nanovesicles, are currently one of the most successful nanosystems, with extensive applications in the clinic and an increasing pipeline of products in preclinical and clinical development. These versatile nanotechnological tools are biocompatible and biodegradable, and can load a variety of molecules and, ultimately, improve the therapeutic performance of drugs while minimizing undesired side effects. In this review, we provide a brief description on liposomes’ composition and classification and mainly focus on their clinical use in various areas, including disease management (e.g., cancer, fungal and bacterial infections, ocular pathologies), analgesia, vaccination, diagnostics, and immunosuppression in organ transplantation. Herein are described examples of current liposomal products already in the clinic, as well as the most recent clinical trials involving liposomes as effective and safe nanomedicine tools. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Liposomal Drug Delivery: Three Decades from the First Liposomal Drug Delivery Medicine in Clinical Use)

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