Saturday, 14 July 2012

Discover The Artificial Delivery Service Of Liposomes

By Goldie Booker


Liposomes are artificially-assembled vesicles, which refers to the space enclosed within a lipid bilayer. The lipid bilayer is composed of phospholipids with hydrophobic tails and hydrophilic heads, in a fashion so that the heads face the inside and outside of the bubble, and the tails lie in between. Inside the membrane typically exists an aqueous solution, a hydrophilic solute, that is unable to pass through the hydrophobic membrane.

The medical purpose of these artificial vesicles includes that of drug delivery, bio-detoxification, and the transfection of DNA. Because they are composed of a natural lipid bilayer, they are able to merge with other bilayers such as that of a cell membrane. This fusion of bilayers merges the contents of the vesicle and the cell.

As the convergence of a liposome with a cell merges the contents of the liposome with that of the cell, these artificial vesicles create a favorable means for administering drugs. The vesicles can be assembled in such a way that they contain the drug inside them. The advantage of this method of drug delivery is that it inhibits the release of the drug and interaction with the body in unintended locations.

Empty Liposomes can also be used to detoxify the body when it has been exposed to an excess drug intake. They are typically injected into the bloodstream, and fashioned to capture the drug contents within them by means of a transmembrane pH gradient. Consequently surrounded by the vesicle's lipid bilayer, the drug is forbidden from continuing to react with the body, reducing the harmful effects of excessive dosage.

These artificially-crafted vesicles also offer a means to modify the DNA within a cell. Their purpose, similar to that in drug applications, is to deliver genetic material into a cell. The expression of new genetic material can provide the cell with an ability it did not previously have.

Though Liposomes are man-made, they are by no means unable to react with the body in a natural way. Their lipid bilayer is typically similar if not exactly the same as that of a cell membrane, which allows them to function with the body without resulting in a negative reaction. They have significantly increased the ability of humans to modify cellular activity, and continue to improve the way we interact with the body.




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