Effects of Dialkyldimethylammonium Bromides on the Membrane Properties of Cationic Liposomes

Cationic liposomes composed of dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and dialkyldimethylammonium bromides (DLAB, DMAB, DPAB or DSAB) were prepared by the Bangham method, and the effect of the alkyl chain length of dialkyldimethylammonium bromide on the membrane properties of the liposomes was examined in terms of the trapping efficiency liposomal shape and phase transition temperature. Furthermore, the effect of stearylamine (SA) on the liposomal membrane properties was also investigated. Large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) with a diameter of approximately 1.0 ~ 1.5 μm were formed by mixing small amounts of cationic substances, not only dialkyldimethylammonium bromides, but also SA. The trapping efficiency of the mixed liposomes was greater than that of the DPPC liposomes since the DPPC liposomes were multilamellar vesicles. The maximum trapping efficiency of the mixed liposomes was obtained at 0.05 mole fractions of the cationic substances. Furthermore, dialkyldimethylammmonium bromides with longer alkyl chains, DSAB, DPAB and DMAB, formed cationic substance-rich liposomes with DPPC, and they had the second maximum trapping efficiency at 0.75 ~ 0.9 mole fractions of cationic substance.