Cerasomal doxorubicin with long-term storage stability and controllable sustained release

Liposomal nanohybrid cerasomes display a remarkable ability to maintain their size and retain encapsulated doxorubicin (DOX) over a period of 90 days under storage conditions in solution compared with liposomes and liposils. Cerasomes retained 92.1 ± 2.9% of the drug payload after 90 days storage, much more than liposomes (35.2 ± 2.5%) and liposils (53.2 ± 5.5%). Under physiologically relevant conditions cerasomes exhibit a low initial burst in the first 5 h and subsequent sustained release of DOX over the next 150 h. Moreover, the magnitude of the initial burst and the rate of sustained release of DOX from cerasomes can be modulated by incorporating dipalmitoylphosphatidylglycerol (DPPG) in the cerasome structure and altering the ratios of the cerasome-forming lipid and phospholipids. Consequently, a wide range of release profiles can be achieved by altering the vesicle composition. Finally, human ovarian cancer cells are effectively killed by DOX released from cerasomes. Together these results suggest that cerasomes may be a promising drug delivery system for the long-term storage and controllable sustained release of the anticancer drug DOX.