โ Scribed by Nuno C. Santos; Manuel J. E. Prieto; A. Morna-Gomes; Didier Betbeder; Miguel A. R. B. Castanho
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
The structure of a new supramolecular drug carrier (named Biovectors-BV) was studied using light scattering and scanning electronic microscopy techniques. This system consists of a polysaccharide core of chemically cross-linked maltodextrins to which phospholipids (and, in some cases, cholesterol) are added. Both polysaccharide cores and BV crosslinked with phosphate (negatively charged) and epichlorhydrin (no net charge) are spherical particles. The increase in the ionic strength of the medium increases the density of the charged polysaccharide cores. The lipid strongly interacts with neutral and negatively charged cores, decreasing both intra-and interparticle interactions. The results (mainly, r ร R g /R h รต 0.775 in some cases) suggest that BV are gel-like particles of variable density, referred to as microgels or soft spheres. Neutral polysaccharides have a strong tendency to self-aggregate. This selfaggregation of polysaccharide neutral cores is prevented by the addition of lipid or dimethylsulfoxide.
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