Membrane elastometry by magnetic field-cycling NMR relaxometry: a new tool for the non-invasive characterization of drug-delivery nano-device formulations

FRAENZA, CARLA CECILIA; DOMINGUEZ, GABRIELA A.; ANOARDO, ESTEBAN

San Miguel de Tucumán, Tucumán

Congreso; XLV Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Biofísica; 2016

Sociedad Argentina de Biofísica

The elastic properties of lipid membranes can be conveniently characterized through the bending elastic modulus k[1,2]. Reliable and non-invasive methods to characterize the elastic properties of membranes are attractive for both fundamental research and industrial applications. Elasticity directly affects the deformability of a membrane, morphological and shape transitions, fusion, lipid-protein interactions, etc. It is also a critical property for the formulation of ultradeformable liposomes, and of interest for the design of theranostic liposomes for efficient drug delivery systems and/or different imaging contrast agents. A new method for the measurement of  in liposome membranes is currently under consideration using the fast field-cycling nuclear magnetic relaxometry technique (FFC) [3]. Main advantages of this technology are the absolutely non-invasiveness and the possibility to test nano-devices like liposomes, niosomes, polymeric vesicles, etc. of any size between just a few nanometers in diameter up to several hundreds of nanometers. This technique can also provide valuable information on the local and collective dynamics of the assembling molecules, and through them, on the mesoscopic properties of the membrane. An example is the first experimental determination of the quantity of lipids directly affected by a cholesterol molecule in a DOPC-cholesterol mixture [4]. In this presentation we will comment on these aspects and show selected examples. References[1]- Dimova R., Adv. Colloid Interface Sci. 208, 225-34 (2014).[2]- Monzel C. and Sengupta K., J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 49, 243002 (2016).[3]- Kimmich R. and Anoardo E., Prog. Nucl. Magn. Reson. Spectrosc. 44, 257-320 (2004).[4]- Fraenza C. C., Meledandri C., Anoardo E., Brougham D., ChemPhysChem 15, 425-35 (2014).