title: AFM, ESEM, TEM, and CLSM in liposomal characterization: a comparative study.
abstract: An outstanding aspect of pharmaceutical nanotechnology lies in the characterization of nanocarriers for targeting of drugs and other bioactive agents. The development of microscopic techniques has made the study of the surface and systems architecture more attractive. In the field of pharmaceutical nanosystems, researchers have collected vital information on size, stability, and bilayer organization through the microscopic characterization of liposomes. This paper aims to compare the results obtained by atomic force microscopy, environmental scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy to point out the limits and advantages of these applications in the evaluation of vesicular systems. Besides this comparative aim, our work proposes a simple confocal laser scanning microscopy procedure to rapidly and easily detect the liposomal membrane.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. barbara.ruozi@unimore.it
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ruozi
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Belletti
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tombesi
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tosi
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bondioli
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Forni
authors.forename: Maria Angela
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Vandelli
mesh_terms: D008081:Liposomes / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D013678:Technology, Pharmaceutical / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D008081:Liposomes