Liposomes for targeted drug delivery Author: Wenjie Fei Advised by Tim Pearce and Efrosini Kokkoli

MUC-1 aptamer-amphiphiles were used to functionalize DPPC liposomes to create nanoparticles. Various properties of the targeted liposomes drug delivery vehicles were examined including their drug-to-lipid ratio (DL), targeted ligand insertion efficiency (IE), and stability. The ratio of lipid and MUC-1 aptamer-amphiphile in the liposomes was varied to determine this ratio’s influence on liposomal drug-to lipid ratio, insertion efficiency, and stability. We found that the insertion efficiency and drug-to-lipid ratio is unaffected by the presence of targeting ligand, with a maximum insertion efficiency of 85.4% for the targeted liposomes. The amount of drug loaded into targeted and non-targeted liposomes ranged from 0.10 mg per 1 mg lipids to 0.22 mg per 1 mg lipid. The liposomal leakage was found to be small over the course of 4 days for both targeted and nontargeted liposomal formulations, but there was a 50% increase in leakage in the presence of targeting ligand. The liposomal leakage was lower than 10% for 37°C and 5% in 4°C.