Vesicles with a double bilayer.

Abstract

A modified reverse phase evaporation method was used to prepare intermediate unilamellar vesicles coated with an additional membrane, or large vesicles in which several vesicles were coated with a common membrane. In both kinds of vesicle, the outer and inner membranes are usually of different phospholipid composition. The preparation involves the formation of a double emulsion: vesicles in a buffer are emerged in a low-boiling point organic solution of phospholipids. Then the organic solvent is evaporated during the heating and mixing process. As result large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs), about 100 nm in diameter, were coated with an additional membrane from egg lecithin or dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine and cholesterol. The highest yield of the coating was about 50%. When DPPC was used for coating above the phase transition temperature Tm, the data suggested the formation of vesicles that were slightly larger than the starting LUVs. It might be concluded that many of these had a double bilayer. If the coating was done below Tm, the micrographs suggested the formation of structures resembling multi-vesicular vesicles. They looked like LUV clusters coated with a common membrane.