Shadan Modaresahmadi

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are widely used as carriers for the delivery of small molecules, nucleic acids, and proteins to increase drug bioavailability and stability and to achieve sustained drug release. (1) In cancer drug delivery, LNPs reduce the toxicity of cytotoxic drug cargo and exploit the dysfunctional tumor vasculature to enhance tumor drug accumulation.

Early work with liposomes as drug delivery systems Liposomes are submicroscopic vesicles consisting of an inner water phase surrounded by a bilayer of phospholipids usually mixed along with cholesterol, much alike the basic structure of cell membranes. The amphipathic character of phospholipids results in an orderly alignment of their phosphate moieties towards the internal and external water media, while their fatty acid chains create a lipophilic compartment within the bilayer (figure 1A).