Multivesicular Vesicles: Preparation and Applications

Abstract

Multivesicular vesicles, i. e. vesicles containing internal, non-concentrically arranged smaller vesicles, are artificial, polymolecular compartment systems, which can be prepared from naturally occurring or fully synthetic bilayer-forming amphiphiles in aqueous solution through various guided assembly procedures. The general concepts for the preparation of such “vesicles-inside-vesicles” systems (also called “vesosomes”) are summarized, and the different methods used are compared. Selected applications of multivesicular vesicles in the field of drug delivery, cell-mimicking model systems, and as versatile compartments for the investigation of confined reactions are discussed.