The shape parameter of liposomes and DNA-lipid complexes determined by viscometry utilizing small sample volumes.
A minicapillary viscometer utilizing <0.5 ml of sample at a volume fraction of <0.1% is described. The calculated a/b of DPPC/DPPG multilamellar liposome was 1.14 as prolate ellipsoids and a/b of dioleoylpropyltrimethyl ammonium methylsulfate-DNA complex at a charge ratio of 4:1 (+/-) was 3.7 as prolate ellipsoids or 4.9 as oblate ellipsoids. The deviation of shape from perfect sphere is thus expressed quantitatively in more than two significant figures. In these measurement, the necessary amount of DNA is <0.5 mg.
Sun
Y
Y
Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, Dalian, China.
Li
X
X
Düzgüneş
N
N
Takaoka
Y
Y
Ohi
S
S
Hirota
S
S
D002197:Capillary Action; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D008081:Liposomes / Q000737:chemistry*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008560:Membrane Fluidity; D008832:Microchemistry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D044085:Microfluidics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D010316:Particle Size; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018401:Sample Size; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014783:Viscosity
D008055:Lipids; D008081:Liposomes; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D004247:DNA