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Review
. 2022 Dec 28;8(1):1-9.
doi: 10.1021/acsomega.2c06034. eCollection 2023 Jan 10.

Archaeosomes: New Generation of Liposomes Based on Archaeal Lipids for Drug Delivery and Biomedical Applications

Poornima Budime Santhosh  1 , Julia Genova  1
Affiliations
Review

Archaeosomes: New Generation of Liposomes Based on Archaeal Lipids for Drug Delivery and Biomedical Applications

Poornima Budime Santhosh et al. ACS Omega. .

Abstract

Archaeosomes are a new generation of stable liposomes composed of natural ether lipids extracted from archaea, or synthetic archaeal lipids. Archaea constitute a domain of single-celled microorganisms that are structurally similar to but evolutionarily distinct from bacteria. They synthesize unique membrane lipids with isoprenoid hydrocarbon side chains attached via an ether linkage to the glycerol-phosphate backbone. Compared to the ester linkages found in the lipids of Eukarya and bacteria, the ether linkages in archaeal lipids are more stable in various environmental conditions such as high/low temperatures, acidic or alkaline pH, bile salts, and enzymatic hydrolysis. This feature has intrigued scientists to use archaeal lipids to prepare archaeosomes with superior physicochemical stability and utilize them as effective carriers to deliver various cargos of biomedical importance such as drugs, proteins, peptides, genes, and antioxidants to the target site. Archaeosomes carrying antigens and/or adjuvants are also proven to be better candidates for stimulating antigen-specific, humoral, and cell-mediated immune responses, which broadens their scope in vaccine delivery. These properties associated with excellent biocompatibility and a safety profile provide numerous advantages to the archaeosomes to function as a versatile delivery system. This mini-review will provide an overview of the unique features of archaeal lipids, preparation and characterization of archaeosomes, and emphasize the prospects related to drug delivery and other biomedical applications.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing financial interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A and B) Scanning electron micrographs showing the homogeneous archaeal population of small coccoid-shaped and SM1 euryarchaeon cells. Reproduced with permission from ref (6). Copyright 2014, Frontiers Media S.A.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic representation of a hybrid archaeosome composed of a mixture of conventional phospholipids and archaeal bipolar lipids.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of differences in the membrane phospholipids found in Archaea and those lipids in bacteria and Eukarya. The phytanyl side chains of Archaea are ether linked to glycerol, whereas the linear fatty acid tails are ester bound to glycerol in bacteria and Eukarya.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Core lipid structure of archaea: (a) standard archaeol, (b) caldarchaeol, and (c) isocaldarchaeol.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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