Size Characteristics of Liposomes Formed in a Micro-Tube

Abstract

The characteristics of liposome formation in a micro-tube have been studied to develop a novel production method that forms the liposomes with a desired size homogeneously. In this method, the inner wall of the micro-tube was used to spread the liposomal lipid on. Then, instead of conventional rigorous agitation, an aqueous solution was fed through the tube, which peeled off the thin lipid layer formed liposomes. This resulted in a sharp peak in the size-distribution profile, and the size of liposomes was found to be dependent on the flow velocity and on the micro-tube size. Moreover, the yield of the liposomes of the desired size in our method was much higher than that in the conventional method, because our method produced liposomes uniform in size. From these findings, we concluded that the friction drag in the micro-tube is applicable for the efficient production of liposomes and a microfluidics device consisting of micro-tubes is a promising tool in the production of liposomal formulations.