Lipids and liposomes have remained an active research topic for several decades due to their significance as membrane model. Several vibrational spectroscopic techniques have been developed and employed to study the properties of lipids and liposomes. In this study, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been used to analyze a suite of synthesized PEGylated lipids trademarked as QuSomes^TM. The three amphiphiles used in this study, differ in their apolar hydrophobic chain length and contain various units of polar polyethylene glycol (PEG) head groups. In contrast to conventional phospholipids, this new kind of lipids forms liposomes spontaneously upon hydration, without the supply of external activation energy. Whilst the NIR spectra of QuSomes^TM show a common pattern, differences in the spectra are observed which enable the lipids to be distinguished. NIR absorption spectra of these new artificial lipids have been recorded in the spectral range of 4800-9000 cm^-1 (~2100-1100 nm) by using a new miniaturized spectrometer based on micro-optical-electro-mechanical systems (MOEMS) technology. In particular, we have established specific band structures as "molecular fingerprints" corresponding to overtones and combinations vibrational modes involving mainly C-H and O-H functional groups for sample analysis of QuSomes^TM. Moreover, we have demonstrated that the nanovesicles formed by such lipids in polar solvents show high stability and obey Beer's law at low concentration. The results reported in this study may find applications in various field including the development of lipids based drug delivery systems.

Date Published: 16 February 2009
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 7188, Nanoscale Imaging, Sensing, and Actuation for Biomedical Applications VI, 718809 (16 February 2009); doi: 10.1117/12.807406

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7188:
Nanoscale Imaging, Sensing, and Actuation for Biomedical Applications VI
Alexander N. Cartwright; Dan V. Nicolau, Editor(s)