Liposome Encapsulation for Drug Delivery

Extensive research has been conducted to determine an optimal method of drug delivery. Pills are not always effective for delivering drugs due to their degradation in the stomach and premature release of medication to unintended parts of the body. To combat these issues, we tested two different anticancer drugs: Olaparib and Cordycepin. Olaparib is a poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor that disables DNA repair, leading to death in BRCA gene-deficient tumor cells. Cordycepin is an RNA inhibitor derived from the fungus Cordyceps militaris. Our hypothesis was that these drugs would exhibit greater efficacy after incorporation into hydrophobic liposomes. Encapsulation would allow the drugs to more easily enter the cancer cells because of the liposome’s ability to fuse with the cell membrane. In separate trials, drugs were packaged in different liposomal preparations using 1,2-Dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) or a mixed chain phosphatidylcholine (PC)  and cell death was observed. MCF-7 breast cancer cells showed the most cell death after 24 hours of treatment before proliferation resumed, indicating that the Olaparib and Cordycepin may not be killing the cells, but delaying proliferation. HepG2 liver cancer cells exhibited virtually no cell death in DOPC trials but high cell death in PC trials, indicating PC may make a more effective liposome. Future experiments will test increased dosages as well as drug combinations encapsulated in phosphatidylcholine. This has the potential to cause much less harm to the body and possibly kill a wide range of cancers.