Spontaneous Formation of Densely Stacked Multilamellar Vesicles in Dioctadecyldimethylammonium Bromide/Oleosiloxane Mixtures
2010
Abstract
Double-chain surfactants, such as dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB), form in solution only double layers, not vesicles. In this study it was shown that these double-layers could be transformed into multilamellar vesicles by tetra(11-methoxy-11-oxoundecyl) tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane.
Cryo-electron microscopy showed that addition of 50 mol % of tetra(11-methoxy-11oxoundecyl)tetramethylcyclotetrasiloxane to DODAB results in spontaneous formation of multilamellar vesicles with densely stacked layers. This procedure can be potentially used form the preparation of vectors for targeted drug distribution based on a different substrate than lipids.