siRNA delivery with functionalized liposomal formulations

Thomas Fritz

Directed delivery is a challenging and major hurdle for the application of expensive and labile therapeutic compounds, as for example siRNA. Liposomes, used as carrier vehicles, protect their load and can be modified in their properties. In this work, the new dual asymmetric centrifugation (DAC) technique[9] provides a way to create liposomal siRNA[10].

More sophisticated structures allow further studies of the delivery strategy, including functionalization with endocytosis-mediating ligands (as e. g. folic acid). Fluorescent labeling of both liposomes and siRNA allows trafficking and integrity measurements by quantifying the FRET from one fluorophore to another.