Temperature calibration of differential scanning calorimeters

Newly Synthesized Lipid-Porphyrin Conjugates: Evaluation of Their Self-Assembling Properties, Their Miscibility with Phospholipids and Their Photodynamic Activity In Vitro

Lipid-porphyrin conjugates are considered nowadays as promising building blocks for the conception of supramolecular structures with multifunctional properties, required for efficient cancer therapy by photodynamic therapy (PDT). The synthesis of two new lipid-porphyrin conjugates coupling pheophorbide-a (Pheo-a), a photosensitizer derived from chlorophyll-a, to either chemically modified lyso-phosphatidylcholine (PhLPC) or egg lyso-sphingomyelin (PhLSM) is reported. The impact of the lipid backbone of these conjugates on their self-assembling properties, as well as on their physicochemical properties, including interfacial behavior at the air/buffer interface, fluorescence and absorption properties, thermotropic behavior, and incorporation rate in the membrane of liposomes were studied. Finally, their photodynamic activity was evaluated on esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and normal esophageal squamous epithelium cell lines. The liposome-like vesicles resulting from self-assembly of the pure conjugates were unstable and turned into aggregates with undefined structure within few days. However, both lipid-porphyrin conjugates could be efficiently incorporated in lipid vesicles, with higher loading rates than unconjugated Pheo-a. Interestingly, phototoxicity tests of free and liposome-incorporated lipid-porphyrin conjugates demonstrated a better selectivity in vitro to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma relative to normal cells.

Impact of lipid composition and photosensitizer hydrophobicity on the efficiency of light-triggered liposomal release

Photo-triggerable liposomes are considered nowadays as promising drug delivery devices due to their potential to release encapsulated drugs in a spatial and temporal manner. In this work, we have investigated the photopermeation efficiency of three photosensitizers (PSs), namely verteporfin, pheophorbide a and m-THPP when incorporated into liposomes with well-defined lipid compositions (SOPC, DOPC or SLPC). By changing the nature of phospholipids and PSs, the illumination of the studied systems was shown to significantly alter their lipid bilayer properties via the formation of lipid peroxides. The system efficiency depends on the PS/phospholipid association, and the ability of the PS to peroxidize acyl chains. Our results demonstrated the possible use of these three clinically approved (or under investigation) PSs as potential candidates for photo-triggerable liposome conception.

Combining Freezing Point Depression and Self-Diffusion Data for Characterizing Aggregation

The colligative property freezing point depression is evaluated as a means for estimating the extent of aggregation for solutions of poly(ethylene oxide) alcohol (C₁₀E₆) nonionic surfactant in cyclohexane. Combined with additional measurements of self-diffusion coefficients, it is shown that both unaggregated C₁₀E₆ as well as reverse micelles are significantly present for the entire range of measured C₁₀E₆ concentration (0.048-2.35 mol kg^-1). A change in speciation near 0.2 mol kg^-1 is indicated by the results from both freezing point depression and self-diffusion coefficient measurements. It is shown that average reverse micelle radii and aggregation numbers obtained from the ratio of solvent and C₁₀E₆ self-diffusion coefficients are consistent with prior reported results. However, unreasonably small radii for the reverse micelles as well as for the cyclohexane were obtained from analysis of the results by the Stokes-Einstein equation using additional measured solution viscosities. The concentration of reverse micelles and unaggregated C₁₀E₆ was calculated from the freezing point depression results using the aggregation numbers obtained from ratio of self-diffusion coefficients. These concentrations indicate that the reverse micelles become smaller in average size and increase in number with increasing temperature without an increase in unaggregated C₁₀E₆.

Physico-chemical and structural characterization of mucilage isolated from seeds of Diospyros melonoxylon Roxb

Mucilage was isolated from the seeds of Diospyros melonoxylonRoxb., a plant growing naturally in the forests of India. Various physico-chemical methods like particle analysis, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetry analysis, molecular weight by gel permeation chromatography, rheometry, elemental analysis, x-ray diffraction spectrometry, zeta potential, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, 1D(1H and 13C) (NMR) have been employed to characterize this gum in the present study. Particle analyses suggest that mucilage had particle size in nanometer. SEM analysis suggested that the mucilage had irregular particle size. The glass transition temperature of the gum observed was 78 °C and 74 °C by DSC and DTA respectively. The Thermogravimetry analysis suggested that mucilage had good thermal stability with two stage decomposition. The molecular weight of mucilage was determined to be 8760, by gel permeation chromatography, while the viscosity of mucilage was observed to be 219.1 cP. The XRD pattern of the mucilage indicated a complete amorphous nature. Elemental analysis of the gum revealed specific contents of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur. The major functional groups identified from FT-IR spectrum include 3441 cm-1 (-OH), 1632 cm-1 (-COO-), 1414 cm-1 (-COO-) and 1219 cm-1 (-CH3CO). Analysis of mucilage by paper chromatography and 1D NMR indicated the presence of sugars.

Vibrational and reorientational motions of H2O ligands, phase transition and thermal properties of [Sr(H2O)6]Cl2

One phase transition (PT) at TC(h)=252.9K (on heating) and at TC(c)=226.5K (on cooling) was detected by DSC for [Sr(H2O)6]Cl2 in 123-295K range. Thermal hysteresis of this PT equals to 26.4K. Entropy change (ΔS) value at this first-order type phase transition equals to ca. 1.5Jmol(-1)K(-1). The temperature dependences of the full width at half maximum (FWHM) values of the infrared bands associated with ρt(H2O)E and δas(HOH)E modes (at ca. 417 and 1628cm(-1), respectively) suggest that the observed phase transition is associated with a sudden change of a speed of the H2O reorientational motions. The H2O ligands in the high temperature phase reorientate quickly (correlation times 10(-11)-10(-13)s) with the activation energy of ca. 2kJmol(-1). Below TC(c) probably a part of the H2O ligands stop their reorientation, while the remainders continue their fast reorientation but with the activation energy of ca. 8kJmol(-1). Far and middle infrared spectra indicated characteristic changes at the vicinity of PT with decreasing of temperature, which suggested lowering of the crystal structure symmetry. Splitting of the band (at 3601cm(-1)) connected with vas(OH) mode near the TC(c) suggests lowering of the crystal lattice symmetry. All these facts suggest that the discovered PT is connected both with a change of the reorientational dynamics of the H2O ligands and with the change of the crystal structure.

Phase behavior and domain size in sphingomyelin-containing lipid bilayers

Membrane raft size measurements are crucial to understanding the stability and functionality of rafts in cells. The challenge of accurately measuring raft size is evidenced by the disparate reports of domain sizes, which range from nanometers to microns for the ternary model membrane system sphingomyelin (SM)/1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC)/cholesterol (Chol). Using Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), we established phase diagrams for porcine brain SM (bSM)/dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC)/Chol and bSM/POPC/Chol at 15 and 25°C. By combining two techniques with different spatial sensitivities, namely FRET and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), we have significantly narrowed the uncertainty in domain size estimates for bSM/POPC/Chol mixtures. Compositional trends in FRET data revealed coexisting domains at 15 and 25°C for both mixtures, while SANS measurements detected no domain formation for bSM/POPC/Chol. Together these results indicate that liquid domains in bSM/POPC/Chol are between 2 and 7nm in radius at 25°C: that is, domains must be on the order of the 2-6nm Förster distance of the FRET probes, but smaller than the ~7nm minimum cluster size detectable with SANS. However, for palmitoyl SM (PSM)/POPC/Chol at a similar composition, SANS detected coexisting liquid domains. This increase in domain size upon replacing the natural SM component (which consists of a mixture of chain lengths) with synthetic PSM, suggests a role for SM chain length in modulating raft size in vivo.

Differential scanning calorimetry: applications in drug development

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is frequently the pharmaceutical thermal analysis technique of choice because of its ability to provide detailed information about both the physical and energetic properties of a substance. This review provides an up-to-date overview of the applications of DSC in the drug development process. It should serve as a broad introduction to those starting work in this area, and also as a valuable reference for those already practising in this field.