Since the first edition of "Liposomes - A Practical Approach" was published in 1990, liposome technology has become a highly successful and rapidly developing area of preclinical and clinical research. During the 1990's, a number of liposome-based drugs reached the market in the US and Europe and several new aspects of liposome research have been discovered. As a consequence there has been an explosion of new procedures and techniques in the field. Reflecting both the significant changes in the field and these discoveries, this new edition contains a combination of chapters from the 1st edition which have been significantly updated, and several additional chapters. Each chapter contains contributions from experts in the field, and the book as a whole encompasses all key areas of liposome technology. The first half of the text addresses a number of essential experimental protocols such as the preparation, characterization, and storage of liposomes.
1. PREPARATION OF LIPOSOMES; 2. Characterization of Liposomes; 3. Physical Methods of Study: Differential Scanning of Calorimetry; 4. Fluorescence methods in liposome research; 5. Stability, storage and sterilization of liposomes; 6. Encapsulation of weakly-basic drugs, antisense oligonucleotides and plasmid DNA within large unilamellar vesicles for drug delivery applications; 7. Surface modifications of liposomes; 8. Long-circulating sterically protected liposomes; 9. Liposomes in biological systems; 10. Cationic liposomes in gene delivery; 1. PH-SENSITIVE LIPOSOMES; 2. Radiolabeled liposomes for imaging and biodistribution; 3. Isothermic Titration Calorimetry (ITC); 4. Vesicular phospholipid gels; 5. Liposome-based DNA vaccines: Procedures for entrapment