Bicosomes: bicelles in dilute systems.

Bicelles are discoidal phospholipid nanostructures at high lipid concentrations. Under dilute conditions, bicelles become larger and adopt a variety of morphologies. This work proposes a strategy to preserve the discoidal morphology of bicelles in environments with high water content. Bicelles were formed in concentrated conditions and subsequently encapsulated in liposomes. Later dilution of these new structures, called bicosomes, demonstrated that lipid vesicles were able to isolate and protect bicelles entrapped inside them from the medium. Characterization of systems before and after dilution by dynamic light-scattering spectroscopy and cryo-transmission electron microscopy showed that free bicelles changed in size and morphology, whereas encapsulated bicelles remained unaltered by the effect of dilution. Free and entrapped bicelles (containing the paramagnetic contrast agent gadodiamide) were injected into rat brain lateral ventricles. Coronal and sagittal visualization was performed by magnetic resonance imaging. Whereas rats injected with free bicelles did not survive the surgery, those injected with bicosomes did, and a hyperintensity effect due to gadodiamide was observed in the cerebrospinal fluid. These results indicate that bicosomes are a good means of preserving the morphology of bicelles under dilution conditions. Copyright (c) 2010 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.