Preparation of multilamellar vesicles of defined size-distribution by solvent-spherule evaporation

Abstract

A novel method of preparing multilamellar vesicles is described. The process involves dispersing in aqueous solutions small spherules of volatile hydrophobic solvents in which amphiphathic lipids are dissolved. The lipids form vesicles when the solvents are evaporated in the proper manner. The resulting vesicles have been characterized morphologically with light microscopy and electron microscopy. The method yields multilamellar vesicles with a defined size distribution which can be adjusted by varying the duration of mechanical agitation of the spherules and by varying the concentration of amphipatic lipids in the solvents. This is the first fundamentally new method of multilamellar vesicle preparation since Bangham's report in 1965 (Bangham, A.D., Standish M.M. and Watkins J.C. (1965) J. Mol. Biol. 13, 238–252).

Additional details