Liposomes as biomembrane models: Biophysical techniques for drug-membrane interaction studies

Abstract

The interaction of drugs with biological membranes is a critical factor affecting their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, so understanding how drugs interact with biomembranes is of valuable interest for the pharmaceutical industry. However, such interactions are difficult to investigate due to the complexity of biological membranes, mainly related to the dynamic structure of membranes that are composed of wide variety of molecules. In this context, in vitro lipid-based membrane models emerged to offer a simple yet useful alternative way of studying drug-membrane interactions. Different lipid models can be used as in vitro biomembrane models, and this review presents a brief overview of the most promising membrane models used in this field. Also, the most used biophysical methodologies to study drugs’ and membranes’ properties using liposomes are reviewed. The significance of using liposomes as lipid membrane models to investigate drug-membrane interactions is discussed and future perspectives are presented.