Interaction of negatively charged liposomes with nuclear membranes: adsorption, lipid mixing and lysis of the vesicles

Abstract

Fluorescence energy transfer studies reveal that negatively charged lipid vesicles interact with nuclei from mouse liver cells. This interaction was observed with charged lipid vesicles composed of PA or PS but not with the uncharged PC or PE:PC vesicles. The vesicles were prepared by bath sonication and contained either a fluorescent marker in the lipid bilayer or in the vesicular interior. The negatively charged vesicles showed an adsorption to the nuclear membrane visible by fluorescence microscopy. The results obtained by resonance energy transfer experiments are interpreted in terms of a mixing of the lipids from the vesicles with the nuclear membrane. Encapsulation studies documented a staining of the nuclei only if the dye molecules of high or low molecular weight were encapsulated inside negatively charged vesicles. As consequence of the vesicle-nuclei interaction morphological changes on the nuclear surface became visible.