CPC A61K 9/127 (2013.01) [A61K 9/1275 (2013.01); A61K 9/1277 (2013.01); C12N 5/0634 (2013.01); G01N 33/5008 (2013.01); G01N 33/5432 (2013.01); G01N 33/556 (2013.01); G01N 2500/02 (2013.01); G01N 2500/10 (2013.01)] | 20 Claims |
1. A method of generating an internally fixed lipid vesicle, comprising:
providing a precursor lipid vesicle that contains an aqueous interior enclosed by a precursor lipid membrane, wherein the precursor lipid membrane of the precursor lipid vesicle is non-permeable to a crosslinker;
permeabilizing the precursor lipid membrane transiently to generate a permeable vesicle;
contacting the permeable vesicle with an inactive activatable crosslinker, whereby the inactive activatable crosslinker enters the permeable vesicle, wherein the inactive activatable crosslinker is a monomer or polymer;
allowing the permeable vesicle to return to a non-permeable vesicle;
removing any extravesicular crosslinker; and
activating the inactive activatable crosslinker to allow crosslinking to occur inside the non-permeable vesicle, whereby an internally fixed lipid vesicle containing a gelated interior is generated, and wherein the internally fixed lipid vesicle has a lipid membrane that is substantially identical to the precursor lipid membrane in one or more of membrane fluidity, membrane protein mobility, sensitivity to a surfactant, membrane permeability, membrane content, surface charge, and biological function.
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