Preparation of large monodisperse vesicles

Abstract

Preparation of monodisperse vesicles is important both for research purposes and for practical applications. While the extrusion of vesicles through small pores (∼100 nm in diameter) results in relatively uniform populations of vesicles, extrusion to larger sizes results in very heterogeneous populations of vesicles. Here we report a simple method for preparing large monodisperse multilamellar vesicles through a combination of extrusion and large-pore dialysis. For example, extrusion of polydisperse vesicles through 5-μm-diameter pores eliminates vesicles larger than 5 μm in diameter. Dialysis of extruded vesicles against 3-μ-pore-size polycarbonate membranes eliminates vesicles smaller than 3 μm in diameter, leaving behind a population of monodisperse vesicles with a mean diameter of ∼4 μm. The simplicity of this method makes it an effective tool for laboratory vesicle preparation with potential applications in preparing large monodisperse liposomes for drug delivery. © 2009 Zhu et al.