Liposome Development for Lymphatic Filariasis Treatment

Faculty Sponsor

Lauren Sestito

College

College of Engineering (COE)

Department/Program

MEBE

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Symposium Date

Summer 7-23-2025

Abstract

Lymphatic filariasis, a parasitic infection prevalent in many tropical countries, poses a significant challenge to treat due to parasite residence within the lymphatic system. Common drugs used for filariasis treatment are small molecules, which due to their small size tend to accumulate in the bloodstream rather than the lymphatic system where the adult parasite lives. When these drugs are loaded into a larger nanoscale drug delivery vehicle, lymphatic uptake and resulting lymphatic drug concentration may be enhanced by size-based passive targeting. Liposomes, fat-based nanoparticles with both hydrophobic and hydrophilic internal spaces for drug encapsulation, may be particularly useful for oral delivery due to the involvement of gut lymphatics in fat transport. In order to investigate how liposome encapsulation impacts drug access to the lymphatic system, this work first focuses on synthesizing liposomes with controllable size and characterizing their drug loading and release. The impact of composition, synthesis conditions, and post-processing on liposome diameter is explored using dynamic light scattering to assess particle size. Drug loading and release is simulated using two small molecule dyes, Oil Red O and fluorescein isothiocyanate, as proxies for hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs, respectively. Fluorescence and absorbance spectroscopy is used to measure the encapsulation of the dye in the liposomes and dye release across a dialysis membrane over time. This information can then be applied to optimize the design and functionality of liposome-based drug delivery systems in future in vitro experiments.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

Carter Mullins is a senior Biomechanical Engineering major with a minor in mathematics.

Makayla Mann is a senior Biomedical Engineering major with a minor in chemistry.

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