Lipid Droplets
Use Cases
How to functionalize lipid droplets
to improve drug delivery ?
Reference: Attia, M. F.; Dieng, S. M.; Collot, M.; Klymchenko, A. S.; Bouillot, C.; Serra, C. A.; Schmutz, M.; Er‐Rafik, M.; Vandamme, T. F.; Anton, N., Functionalizing nanoemulsions with carboxylates: impact on the biodistribution and pharmacokinetics in mice. Macromolecular bioscience 2017, 17 (7), 1600471.
This study proposes a reliable and innovative method to functionalize lipid droplets, based on the lipophilic polymer poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecene), PMAO in the following, solubilized in the droplet core, and able to hydrolyze at the oil/water interface. Surface tension measurements with an automatic drop tensiometer (TRACKER™ by TECLIS) allowed to monitor the diffusion of the PMAO towards a water/cyclohexane interface. It has been hence demonstrated that PMAO migrates by diffusion at the interface and undergoes hydrolysis with water. Moreover, high pH in the bulk seems to favor the hydrolysis. Thanks to further experimental work, it has been proved that surface modification of nanodroplets only by carboxylate has a significant impact on their behavior towards living systems.
TECLIS product: TRACKER™ automatic drop tensiometer
Key words: surface tension, interfacial reaction, diffusion, nano droplets, emulsion.
What does determine the binding preference of lipid droplets to amphipathic helices ?
Reference: Chorlay, A., & Thiam, A. R. (2020). Neutral lipids regulate amphipathic helix affinity for model lipid droplets. Journal of Cell Biology, 219(4).
Previous studies showed that binding of amphipathic helices (AHs) to membranes depends on many factors such as charge, packing density etc. In this paper, the authors investigate this binding on lipid droplets (LDs) that consist in a neutral liquid core enveloped in a phospholipid monolayer. To have a better understanding of the system, an interfacial characterization of a phospholipid monolayer at the oil / buffer interface has been conducted using an automatic drop tensiometer (TRACKER™ by TECLIS). Further characterizations allowed to show that LD surface is always less dense in phospholipids (PL) than a bilayer meaning that LDs can recruit more AHs than bilayers. Moreover, the nature of the oil phase plays a major role in this recruitment.
TECLIS product: TRACKER™ automatic drop tensiometer
Key words: surface tension, elastic modulus, lipid droplet, phospholipid, amphipathic helices.