Stronger microcapsule resembles liposomes

A new type of microcapsule that resembles a liposome but is much stronger has been developed by a team at Nara Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Japan.

Liposomes are hollow, fatty droplets with a structure resembling that of a cell membrane, and are formed by molecules that spontaneously pair up in opposite directions to make what is known as a lipid bilayer.

The new microcapsule has a similar structure, but with a layer of silicon dioxide molecules covering both the inner surface and the outer surface of the bilayer. Silicon dioxide is a type of ceramic, and this coating stiffens the capsule and makes it less prone to collapse than a liposome.

The research team described the liposome microcapsule as a cerasome, and believes its creation has promising applications not only as a drug-delivery system for the targeted administration of medications, but also as a type of artificial bone material.

The new cerasomes are around 20 nm diameter and the entire membrane, spanning from the outer ceramic coating across the lipid bilayer to the inner ceramic coating, is around 5nm thick.

Although liposomes are already being tested as a drug-delivery system, they are so soft they tend to clump and break, a problem solved with the ceramic-reinforced cerasomes.