Celesta Fong

Surfactant self-assembly objects as novel drug delivery vehicles

Abstract The past decade has been witness to a new impetus in surfactant self-assembly objects as agents for drug delivery that are an alternative to micellar, lamellar (liposome, niosome and transfersome) or microemulsion-based vehicles. The review focus herein is on the application of hexagonal, cubic, ‘intermediate’ (viz. rhombohedral, tetragonal and monoclinic) and L 3 (‘sponge’) mesophases.

One-step method for generating PEG-like plasma polymer gradients: chemical characterization and analysis of protein interactions.

In this work we report a one-step method for the fabrication of poly(ethylene glycol) PEG-like chemical gradients, which were deposited via continuous wave radio frequency glow discharge plasma polymerization of diethylene glycol dimethyl ether (DG). A knife edge top electrode was used to produce the gradient coatings at plasma load powers of 5 and 30 W. The chemistry across the gradients was analyzed using a number of complementary techniques including spatially resolved synchrotron source grazing incidence FTIR microspectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and synchrotron source near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. Gradients deposited at lower load power retained a higher degree of monomer like functionality as did the central region directly underneath the knife edge electrode of each gradient film. Surface derivatization experiments were employed to investigate the concentration of residual ether units in the films. In addition, surface derivatization was used to investigate the reactivity of the gradient films toward primary amine groups in a graft copolymer of poly (L-lysine) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PLL-g-PEG copolymer) which was correlated to residual aldehyde, ketone and carboxylic acid functionalities within the films. The protein adsorption characteristics of the gradients were analyzed using three proteins of varying size and charge. Protein adsorption varied and was dependent on the chemistry and the physical properties (such as size and charge) of the proteins. A correlation between the concentration of ether functionality and the protein fouling characteristics along the gradient films was observed. The gradient coating technique developed in this work allows for the efficient and high-throughput study of biomaterial gradient coating interactions.

High-throughput development of amphiphile self-assembly materials: fast-tracking synthesis, characterization, formulation, application, and understanding.

Amphiphile self-assembly materials, which contain both a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic domain, have great potential in high-throughput and combinatorial approaches to discovery and development. However, the materials chemistry community has not embraced these ideas to anywhere near the extent that the medicinal chemistry community has. While this situation is beginning to change, extracting the full potential of high-throughput approaches in the development of self-assembling materials will require further development in the synthesis, characterization, formulation, and application domains. One of the key factors that make small molecule amphiphiles prospective building blocks for next generation multifunctional materials is their ability to self-assemble into complex nanostructures through low-energy transformations. Scientists can potentially tune, control, and functionalize these structures, but only after establishing their inherent properties. Because both robotic materials handling and customized rapid characterization equipment are increasingly available, high-throughput solutions are now attainable. These address traditional development bottlenecks associated with self-assembling amphiphile materials, such as their structural characterization and the assessment of end-use functional performance. A high-throughput methodology can help streamline materials development workflows, in accord with existing high-throughput discovery pipelines such as those used by the pharmaceutical industry in drug discovery. Chemists have identified several areas that are amenable to a high-throughput approach for amphiphile self-assembly materials development. These allow an exploration of not only a large potential chemical, compositional, and structural space, but also material properties, formulation, and application variables. These areas of development include materials synthesis and preparation, formulation, characterization, and screening performance for the desired end application. High-throughput data analysis is crucial at all stages to keep pace with data collection. In this Account, we describe high-throughput advances in the field of amphiphile self-assembly, focusing on nanostructured lyotropic liquid crystalline materials, which form when amphiphiles are added to a polar solvent. We outline recent progress in the automated preparation of amphiphile molecules and their nanostructured self-assembly systems both in the bulk phase and in dispersed colloidal particulate systems. Once prepared, we can structurally characterize these systems by establishing phase behavior in a high-throughput manner with both laboratory (infrared and light polarization microscopy) and synchrotron facilities (small-angle X-ray scattering). Additionally, we provide three case studies to demonstrate how chemists can use high-throughput approaches to evaluate the functional performance of amphiphile self-assembly materials. The high-throughput methodology for the set-up and characterization of large matrix in meso membrane protein crystallization trials can illustrate an application of bulk phase self-assembling amphiphiles. For dispersed colloidal systems, two nanomedicine examples highlight advances in high-throughput preparation, characterization, and evaluation: drug delivery and magnetic resonance imaging agents.

Lipid-PEG conjugates sterically stabilize and reduce the toxicity of phytantriol-based lyotropic liquid crystalline nanoparticles.

Lyotropic liquid crystalline nanoparticle dispersions are of interest as delivery vectors for biomedicine. Aqueous dispersions of liposomes, cubosomes, and hexosomes are commonly stabilized by nonionic amphiphilic block copolymers to prevent flocculation and phase separation. Pluronic stabilizers such as F127 are commonly used; however, there is increasing interest in using chemically reactive stabilizers for enhanced functionalization and specificity in therapeutic delivery applications. This study has explored the ability of 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine conjugated with poly(ethylene glycol) (DSPE-PEGMW) (2000 Da ≤ MW ≤ 5000 Da) to engineer and stabilize phytantriol-based lyotropic liquid crystalline dispersions. The poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) moiety provides a tunable handle to the headgroup hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity to allow access to a range of nanoarchitectures in these systems. Specifically, it was observed that increasing PEG molecular weight promotes greater interfacial curvature of the dispersions, with liposomes (Lα) present at lower PEG molecular weight (MW 2000 Da), and a propensity for cubosomes (QII(P) or QII(D) phase) at MW 3400 Da or 5000 Da. In comparison to Pluronic F127-stabilized cubosomes, those made using DSPE-PEG3400 or DSPE-PEG5000 had enlarged internal water channels. The toxicity of these cubosomes was assessed in vitro using A549 and CHO cell lines, with cubosomes prepared using DSPE-PEG5000 having reduced cytotoxicity relative to their Pluronic F127-stabilized analogues.

Monodisperse nonionic phytanyl ethylene oxide surfactants: high throughput lyotropic liquid crystalline phase determination and the formation of liposomes, hexosomes and cubosomes

The phase behaviour (both neat and lyotropic) and toxicity of eight new ethylene oxide amphiphiles (EO = 1 to 8) with a single phytanyl chain (3,7,11,15 tetramethylhexadecyl) is reported. There is a discontinuity at EO > 4 where the neat and lyotropic behaviour exhibit a tipping point which is qualitatively rationalised in terms of the molecular geometry of the surfactant. Below four EO units the behaviour of the neat surfactants show only a glass transition, Tg ∼ −90 °C. Above four EO units crystallisation (Tcrys) and crystal-isotropic liquid (Tm) transitions are also observed. These increase monotonically with the hydrophilicity of the surfactant; consistent with the greater cohesiveness of the molecules due to van der Waals interactions. The increase in hydrophilicity corresponds to a decrease in curvature of the surfactant layer towards water. However, the exaggerated splay of the phytanyl chain is effective in promoting various self-assembled structures with inverse cubic and hexagonal phases preferred below ambient temperatures for EO < 4, and these are stable to dilution. Variation of the EO head group length promotes an interesting diversity of cubic phases, with an inverse micellar cubic phase (Fd3m) present for EO = 2 and the bicontinuous gyroid cubic (Ia3d) and double diamond cubic (Pn3m) phases present at higher ethoxylation. DIT-NIR microspectroscopy provided a high throughput, low volume, fast equilibrating method for obtaining the approximate partial temperature-composition phase diagrams of the binary systems with water. The toxicity of colloidal dispersions of these amphiphiles was assayed against normal breast epithelial (HMEpiC) and breast cancer (MCF7) cell lines. The IC50 of the EO amphiphiles was similar in both cell lines with moderate toxicity ranging from ∼80–110 μM in an in vitro cell viability assay.

Submicron Dispersions of Hexosomes Based on Novel Glycerate Surfactants

Glycerate-based surfactants are a new class of swelling amphiphiles which swell to a finite degree with water. Among this class of surfactants, oleyl (cis-octadec-9-enyl) glycerate is very similar in structure to a well characterized mesophase-forming lipid, glyceryl monooleate (GMO). Despite the similar structural characteristics, a subtle change in connectivity of the ester bond substantially alters the binary surfactant-water phase behaviour. Whereas the phase behaviour of GMO is diverse and dominated by cubic phases, the phase behaviour of oleyl glycerate and a terpenoid analogue phytanyl (3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-hexadecane) glycerate is much simplified. Both exhibit an inverse hexagonal phase (H-II), which is stable to dilution with excess water, and an inverse micellar phase (L-II) at ambient temperatures. The inverse hexagonal phases formed by oleyl glycerate and phytanyl glycerate have been characterized using SAXS. Analogous to GMO cubosomes, the inverse hexagonal phase of phytanyl glycerate has been dispersed to form hexagonally facetted particles, termed hexosomes, whose structure has been verified using cryo-TEM.

One step multifunctional micropatterning of surfaces using asymmetric glow discharge plasma polymerization

Micropatterning of surfaces with varying chemical, physical and topographical properties usually requires a number of fabrication steps. Herein, we describe a micropatterning technique based on plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) that deposits both protein resistant and protein repellent surface chemistries in a single step. The resulting multifunctional, selective surface chemistries are capable of spatially controlled protein adhesion, geometric confinement of cells and the site specific confinement of enzyme mediated peptide self-assembly.

Monodisperse nonionic isoprenoid-type hexahydrofarnesyl ethylene oxide surfactants: High throughput lyotropic liquid crystalline phase determination

The neat and lyotropic phase behavior of eight new ethylene oxide amphiphiles (EO = 1-8) with a hexahydrofarnesyl chain (3,7,11-trimethyldodecyl) and narrow polydispersity (>98.5% purity) is reported. Below five EO units the behavior of the neat surfactants show only a glass transition, Tg ∼ -90 °C. Above four EO units, crystallization (Tcrys) and crystal-isotropic liquid (Tm) transitions are also observed that increase with degree of ethoxylation of the surfactant headgroup. The lyotropic liquid crystalline phase behavior spans a complex spectrum of surfactant-water interfacial curvatures. Specifically, inverse phases are present below ambient temperatures for EO < 4, with HFarn(EO)2 exhibiting an inverse hexagonal (H(II)) phase stable to dilution. The phase diagram of HFarn(EO)3 displays both the gyroid (Ia3d) and double diamond (Pn3m) inverse bicontinuous cubic phases, with the latter being thermodynamically stable in excess water within the physiological regime. There is a strong preference for planar bilayer structures at intermediate headgroup ethoxylation, with the crossover to normal phases occurring at HFarn(EO)(7-8) which exhibits normal hexagonal (H(I)) and cubic (Q(I)) phases at ambient temperatures. The toxicity of colloidal dispersions of these EO amphiphiles was assayed against normal breast epithelial (HMEpiC) and breast cancer (MCF7) cell lines. The IC50 of the EO amphiphiles was similar in both cell lines with moderate toxicity ranging from ca. <5 to 140 μM in an in vitro cell viability assay. Observations are qualitatively rationalized in terms of the molecular geometry of the surfactant. The physicochemical behavior of the HFarnesyl ethylene oxide amphiphiles is compared to other ethylene oxide surfactants.

High-Throughput Screening of Saturated Fatty Acid Influence on Nanostructure of Lyotropic Liquid Crystalline Lipid Nanoparticles

Self-assembled lyotropic liquid crystalline lipid nanoparticles have been developed for a wide range of biomedical applications with an emerging focus for use as delivery vehicles for drugs, genes, and in vivo imaging agents. In this study, we report the generation of lipid nanoparticle libraries with information regarding mesophase and lattice parameter, which can aid the selection of formulation for a particular end-use application. In this study we elucidate the phase composition parameters that influence the internal structure of lipid nanoparticles produced from monoolein, monopalmitolein and phytantriol incorporating a variety of saturated fatty acids (FA) with different chain lengths at varying concentrations and temperatures. The material libraries were established using high throughput formulation and screening techniques, including synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering. The results demonstrate the rich polymorphism of lipid nanoparticles with nonlamellar mesophases in the presence of saturated FAs. The inclusion of saturated FAs within the lipid nanoparticles promotes a gradual phase transition at all temperatures studied toward structures with higher negative surface curvatures (e.g., from inverse bicontinuous cubic phase to hexagonal phase and then emulsified microemulsion). The three partial phase diagrams produced are discussed in terms of the influence of FA chain length and concentration on nanoparticle internal mesophase structure and lattice parameters. The study also highlights a compositionally dependent coexistence of multiple mesophases, which may indicate the presence of multicompartment nanoparticles containing cubic/cubic and cubic/hexagonal mesophases.

Self-assembled Lyotropic Liquid Crystalline Phase Behavior of Monoolein–Capric Acid–Phospholipid Nanoparticulate Systems

We report here the lyotropic liquid crystalline phase behavior of two lipid nanoparticulate systems containing mixtures of monoolein, capric acid, and saturated diacyl phosphatidylcholines dispersed by the Pluronic F127 block copolymer. Synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) was used to screen the phase behavior of a library of lipid nanoparticles in a high-throughput manner. It was found that adding capric acid and phosphatidylcholines had opposing effects on the spontaneous membrane curvature of the monoolein lipid layer and hence the internal mesophase of the final nanoparticles. By varying the relative concentration of the three lipid components, we were able to establish a library of nanoparticles with a wide range of mesophases including at least the inverse bicontinuous primitive and double diamond cubic phases, the inverse hexagonal phase, the fluid lamellar phase, and possibly other phases. Furthermore, the in vitro cytotoxicity assay showed that the endogenous phospholipid-containing nanoparticles were less toxic to cultured cell lines compared to monoolein-based counterparts, improving the potential of the nonlamellar lipid nanoparticles for biomedical applications.