Assembly of Coenzyme Q10 nanostructure resembling nascent discoidal high density lipoprotein particle

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Oct 16;388(2):217-21. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2009.07.140. Epub 2009 Jul 30.

Abstract

There are tremendous drug candidates that suffer from insolubility in water. In the present study, it is shown that Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a model water-insoluble compound, can be nanoparticulated into a water-soluble form using apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I). Similar to the way that apoA-I forms nascent discoidal high density lipoprotein (ndHDL) particles by bordering acyl chain tails of phospholipids, CoQ10 could be enclosed into the circle of a disk made of apoA-Is. The resulting nanostructure of CoQ10 and apoA-I was water-soluble with a size of approximately 12 nm in diameter and was physically more robust than liposome. We expect that the strategy suggested in this study can be exploited to assemble nano-sized, water-soluble structures of various water-insoluble drug candidates.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Apolipoprotein A-I / chemistry*
  • Lipoproteins, HDL / chemistry*
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry*
  • Particle Size
  • Phosphatidylcholines / chemistry
  • Solubility
  • Ubiquinone / analogs & derivatives*
  • Ubiquinone / chemistry
  • Water / chemistry*

Substances

  • Apolipoprotein A-I
  • Lipoproteins, HDL
  • Phosphatidylcholines
  • Water
  • Ubiquinone
  • coenzyme Q10
  • 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidylcholine