How stereochemistry affects the physicochemical features of gemini surfactant based cationic liposomes+

The physicochemical features of mixed cationic liposomes formulated with 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcoline and one of three stereomeric cationic gemini surfactants were investigated bydifferential scanning calorimetry, fluorescence, TEM and dynamic laser light scattering. Actually, itwas shown that the different stereochemistry of these gemini can strongly influence their capability ofcondensing and transfecting a plasmid DNA and of delivering a photosensitizer. The results obtainedin this investigation show that the stereochemistry of liposome components and their percentage in theformulation may have dramatic effects on the organization of the lipid bilayer and hence on themorphological and physicochemical features of vesicles, thus being highly relevant to the biologicalfeatures evaluated previously.