Annexin V-containing cubosomes for targeted early detection of apoptosis in degenerative retinal tissue

J Mater Chem B. 2018 Dec 14;6(46):7652-7661. doi: 10.1039/c8tb02465k. Epub 2018 Nov 5.

Abstract

New drug delivery materials targeting damaged ocular tissues are of particular interest. In this work, we have formulated annexin/phosphatidylserine/phytantriol and annexin/phosphatidylserine/monoolein cubosomes based on incorporation of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-l-serine (PS) lipid and annexin V (ANX) protein with phytantriol (Phy) and monoolein (MO) respectively. The incorporation of ANX is important because it can be used as a diagnostic tool for in vivo apoptosis detection due to its high affinity to phosphatidylserine in the presence of Ca2+. We have also prepared PS-Phy and PS-MO cubosomes without ANX as a comparison, and characterized them using dynamic light scattering, cryo-TEM images and small-angle X-ray scattering, showing that PS-Phy cubosomes have greater chemical stability, and that ANX-PS-Phy cubosomes have the potential for in vivo drug delivery. In addition, we have reconstituted an apoptotic biomimetic membrane on a surface to gain insights into cubosome-bilayer interactions using a quartz-crystal microbalance and neutron reflectometry. The neutron reflectivity data reveal that there is exchange of materials between the biomimetic apoptotic bilayer and ANX-PS-Phy cubosomes, with an accumulation of ANX between the membrane and cubosomes possibly being the reason for the reduced cytotoxicity of ANX-PS-Phy cubosomes. A rat model of laser-induced choroidal neovascularization showed that ANX-PS-Phy cubosomes specifically targeted apoptotic cells in vivo. We propose that ANX-PS-Phy cubosomes are a potential candidate for ocular drug delivery for eye diseases.