Metallo-Liposomes Derived from the [Ru(bpy)3]2+ Complex as Nanocarriers of Therapeutic Agents

This article belongs to the Special Issue The Application of Nanocarriers in Therapeutic Agents.
The obtaining of nanocarriers of gene material and small drugs is still an interesting research line. Side-effects produced by the toxicity of several pharmaceutics, the high concentrations needed to get therapeutic effects, or their excessive use by patients have motivated the search for new nanostructures. For these reasons, cationic metallo-liposomes composed by phosphatidylcholine (PC), cholesterol (CHO) and RuC1C19 (a surfactant derived from the metallic complex [Ru(bpy)3]2+) were prepared and characterized by using diverse techniques (zeta potential, dynamic light scattering and electronic transmission microscopy –TEM-). Unimodal or bimodal populations of spherical aggregates with small sizes were obtained depending on the composition of the liposomes. The presence of cholesterol favored the formation of small aggregates. ct-DNA was condensed in the presence of the liposomes investigated. In-vitro assays demonstrated the ability of these nanoaggregates to internalize into different cell lines. A positive gene transfection into human bone osteosarcoma epithelial cells (U2OS) was also observed. The RuC1C19 surfactant was used as sensor to quantify the binding of DNA to the liposomes. Doxorubicin was encapsulated into the metallo-liposomes, demonstrating their ability to be also used as nanocarriers of drugs. A relationship between then encapsulation percentage of the antibiotic and the composition of the aggregates has been established.
This research was funded by the Ayudas a Consolidación de Grupos de la Junta de Andalucía (2019/FQM-206 and 2019/FQM-274) and the European Union (FEDER Funds). IVR’s lab is recipient of a Ramón y Cajal Contract RYC2015-18670, and supported by grants RTI2018-100692-B-I00, PI-0005-2018 and P18-RT-1271.