Nucleotides Entrapped in Liposome Nanovesicles as Tools for Therapeutic and Diagnostic Use in Biomedical Applications
Camila Magalhães Cardador,
Luis Alexandre Muehlmann,
Cíntia Marques Coelho,
Luciano Paulino Silva,
Aisel Valle Garay,
Alexandra Maria dos Santos Carvalho,
Izabela Marques Dourado Bastos,
João Paulo Figueiró Longo
Affiliations
Camila Magalhães Cardador
Department of Genetics and Morphology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Brasília (UnB), Brasilia 70910-900, DF, Brazil
Luis Alexandre Muehlmann
Faculty of Ceilandia, University of Brasilia, Brasilia 70910-900, DF, Brazil
Cíntia Marques Coelho
Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Department of Genetics and Morphology, Institute of Biological Science, University of Brasília (UnB), Brasilia 70910-900, DF, Brazil
Luciano Paulino Silva
Laboratório de Nanobiotecnologia (LNANO), Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia, Brasilia 70770-917, DF, Brazil
Aisel Valle Garay
Molecular Biophysics Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Biological Science, University of Brasília (UnB), Brasília 70910-900, DF, Brazil
Alexandra Maria dos Santos Carvalho
Pathogen-Host Interface Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology, University of Brasilia (UnB), Brasilia 70910-900, DF, Brazil
Izabela Marques Dourado Bastos
Pathogen-Host Interface Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology, University of Brasilia (UnB), Brasilia 70910-900, DF, Brazil
João Paulo Figueiró Longo
Department of Genetics and Morphology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Brasília (UnB), Brasilia 70910-900, DF, Brazil
The use of nucleotides for biomedical applications is an old desire in the scientific community. As we will present here, there are references published over the past 40 years with this intended use. The main problem is that, as unstable molecules, nucleotides require some additional protection to extend their shelf life in the biological environment. Among the different nucleotide carriers, the nano-sized liposomes proved to be an effective strategic tool to overcome all these drawbacks related to the nucleotide high instability. Moreover, due to their low immunogenicity and easy preparation, the liposomes were selected as the main strategy for delivery of the mRNA developed for COVID-19 immunization. For sure this is the most important and relevant example of nucleotide application for human biomedical conditions. In addition, the use of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 has increased interest in the application of this type of technology to other health conditions. For this review article, we will present some of these examples, especially focused on the use of liposomes to protect and deliver nucleotides for cancer therapy, immunostimulatory activities, enzymatic diagnostic applications, some examples for veterinarian use, and the treatment of neglected tropical disease.
