Phospholipid Micelles

Phospholipid micelles are nanocarriers widely applied for drug delivery. Based on our nanoscale drug delivery platforms and professional scientific teams, Creative Biolabs capable of providing a series of both pre-made and encapsulate formulations and related service for our global customers.

What Are Phospholipid Micelles?

Phospholipid micelles are a class of micelles formed by different kind of phospholipids such as phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), phosphatidylserine (PS) and the like. Phospholipids are a class of phosphorus-containing lipids with a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail. Phospholipid micelles are formed by self-assembly of phospholipids (PEGylated phospholipid in Fig.1) into structures with a hydrophobic inner core and hydrophilic outer layer in an aqueous system. Actually, phospholipid micelles are monolayer structures, which are different from amphipathic bilayer of liposomes. As a newly developed lipid drug delivery system, phospholipid micelles have been well established to have solubilizing ability and can help the delivery of poorly soluble agents for the treatment of tumors, neurodegenerative diseases and polynucleotide therapeutics.

Fig.1 PEGylated Liposome (left) and PEGylated Phospholipid Micelle (right) (Muralidharan, 2014).

Phospholipid Micelles Work as a Drug Delivery System

What's similar to other lipid-based delivery system is that both phospholipid micelles and liposomes drug carriers are able to improve the solubility of some insoluble pharmaceutical molecules especially anti-tumor drugs. With a hydrophobic core, phospholipid micelles are used in the transportation of insoluble hydrophobic molecules. The enhanced bioavailability of phospholipid micelles may be credited to the proper size of the micelles. Large sizes over 10 nm blocks glomerular excretion and extravasation in nontarget tissues while sizes below 100 nm size allow the micelles to avoid scavenging by the mononuclear phagocytes system (MPS) in liver and spleen.

Features of Phospholipid Micelles System

The phospholipid micelles system is a part of lipid-core micelles which has been extensively investigated and applied for novel drug delivery nanomedicine. Phospholipid micelles are similar to lipid based vesicular systems like liposomes due to the amphiphilic molecules, but differ from liposome because of the structures. Some of the features are summarized as follows:

• Prolonged long-circulating
• Biocompatible, biodegradable, and nontoxic molecules
• Relatively low critical micelle concentrations
• Limited solubilization capability for poorly soluble drugs compared with mixed micelles

Choose Creative Biolabs for Your Phospholipid Micelles Projects

Creative Biolabs has focused on drug delivery system research and services for many years, and has accumulated abundant experience and background knowledge in phospholipid micelles as well as other lipid-formed drug carriers. We can provide a wide range of products and services based on customers’ unique ideas and specific needs. Our drug delivery system business includes:

• Liposome Development Service
• LNP Development Service
• Custom Lipid Synthesis Service

Please don't hesitate! Just contact us now for more detailed information, and work with us to promote your success!

For Research Use Only. Not For Clinical Use