English
Nanoscale assemblies of soft matter, such as liposomes and lipid nanoparticles, have the potential to deliver and release a variety of goods through external stimuli and site specificity. This type of assembly currently has a simple structure, consisting of spherical capsules or lipid clusters. Given the interweaving of form and function, the lack of structural complexity limits the development of more complex features. To address this issue, we have designed an engineering strategy that combines microfluidics and conjugated chemistry to synthesize nanoscale liposomes with two discrete compartments (one inside the other), which we refer to as concentric bodies. We can control the composition of each bilayer and adjust the particle size and the size between the inner and outer membranes. We can specify the identity of the packaged goods in each compartment and the biophysical characteristics of the inner and outer layers, allowing us to assign different stimulus response characteristics to each layer. We use these particles to release two payloads in multiple stages at defined time points and act as an atorvastatin reactor to trigger in situ biochemical synthesis.
