HT24
Vesicles (or liposomes) are spherical bilayer shells formed in the process of self-assembling phospholipid molecules in aqueous solvent. Intracellular vesicles are crucial in the process of transporting molecules through biological membranes (endocytosis and exocytosis) and extracellular vesicles act as transport vehicles in the extracellular matrix. Vesicles containing only phospholipids are not thermodynamically stable but requires the addition of mechanical energy to make them form. However, by means of mixing phospholipid with certain surface-active agents rather small vesicles may form spontaneously. The size of the thermodynamically stable vesicles depends on, among other things, the detailed chemical structure of both phospholipid and surfactant. In our research group, we have discovered ultra-small vesicles (diameter about 20 nm) to form in certain mixtures of an amphiphilic drug and a phospholipid.
In this project, you will investigate how the size of vesicles depends on the choice of amphiphilic drug and phospholipid and their chemical structures. Size and shape of self-assembled aggregates will be investigated with the experimental techniques static and dynamic light scattering and small-angle x-ray scattering.
Farmaceutisk kemi
Fysikalisk kemi
Laborativ studie
Uppsala universitet
Uppsala
Magnus Bergström
magnus.bergstrom@ilk.uu.se
Institutionen för Läkemedelskemi
Masterprogram i läkemedelsmodellering
Degree Project in Pharmaceutical Modeling within Computational Medicinal Chemistry, 45 c - 3FK038
45hp
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