Identification of large channels in cationic PEGylated cubosome nanoparticles by synchrotron radiation SAXS and Cryo-TEM imaging.

Extra-large nanochannel formation in the internal structure of cationic cubosome nanoparticles results from the interplay between charge repulsion and steric stabilization of the lipid membrane interfaces and is evidenced by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM) and synchrotron radiation small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The swollen cubic symmetry of the lipid nanoparticles emerges through a shaping transition of onion bilayer vesicle intermediates containing a fusogenic nonlamellar lipid. Cationic amphiphile cubosome particles, thanks to the advantages of their liquid crystalline soft porous nanoarchitecture and capability for multi-drug nanoencapsulation, appear to be of interest for the design of mitochondrial targeting devices in anti-cancer therapies and as siRNA nanocarriers for gene silencing.