ABSTRACT
Almost from the time of their discovery the demonstration of th
eir entrapment potential, liposomal vesicles have drawn attenti
on of researchers as
potential carriers of various bioactive molecules that could be
used for therapeutic applications. Liposomes have been widely
investigated since
1970 as drug carriers for improving the delivery of therapeutic
agents to specific sites in the body. Liposomes, which are bio
degradable and
essentially non‐toxic vehicles, can encapsulate both hydrophili
c and hydrophobic materials, and are utilized as drug carriers
in drug delivery
systems. As a result, numerous improvements have been made, thu
s making this technology potentially useful for the treatment o
f certain diseases
in the clinics. Many liposome‐based DNA delivery systems have b
een described, including molecular components for targeting giv
en cell surface
receptors or for escaping from the lysosomal compartment. The i
nsight gained from clinical use of liposome drug delivery syste
ms can now be
integrated to design liposomes that can be targeted on tissues,
cells or intracellular compartments with or without expression
of target recognition
molecules on liposome membranes. The success of liposomes as dr
ug carriers has been reflected in a number of liposome‐based fo
rmulations,
which are commercially available or are currently undergoing cl
inical trials.
Keywords
:
Liposomes, Gene Delivery, Phospholipid