Cationic Liposomes: A Flexible Vaccine Delivery System for Physicochemically Diverse Antigenic Peptides.

Purpose: Personalized peptide-based cancer vaccines will be composed of multiple patient specific synthetic long peptides (SLPs) which may have various physicochemical properties. To formulate such SLPs, a flexible vaccine delivery system is required. We studied whether cationic liposomes are suitable for this purpose.

Label-Free, Flow-Imaging Methods for Determination of Cell Concentration and Viability.

Purpose: To investigate the potential of two flow imaging microscopy (FIM) techniques (Micro-Flow Imaging (MFI) and FlowCAM) to determine total cell concentration and cell viability.

Methods: B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) cells of 2 different donors were exposed to ambient conditions. Samples were taken at different days and measured with MFI, FlowCAM, hemocytometry and automated cell counting.

Formulation, Delivery and Stability of Bone Morphogenetic Proteins for Effective Bone Regeneration.

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are responsible for bone formation during embryogenesis and bone regeneration and remodeling. The osteoinductive action of BMPs, especially BMP-2 and BMP-7, has led to their use in a range of insurmountable treatments where intervention is required for effective bone regeneration. Introduction of BMP products to the market, however, was not without reports of multiple complications and side effects.

Determination of the Porosity of PLGA Microparticles by Tracking Their Sedimentation Velocity Using a Flow Imaging Microscope (FlowCAM).

Purpose: To investigate whether particle sedimentation velocity tracking using a flow imaging microscope (FlowCAM) can be used to determine microparticle porosity.

Methods: Two different methods were explored. In the first method the sedimentation rate of microparticles was tracked in suspending media with different densities.

Adjuvant effect of cationic liposomes for subunit influenza vaccine: influence of antigen loading method, cholesterol and immune modulators.

Cationic liposomes are potential adjuvants for influenza vaccines. In a previous study we reported that among a panel of cationic liposomes loaded with influenza hemagglutinin (HA), DC-Chol:DPPC (1:1 molar ratio) liposomes induced the strongest immune response. However, it is not clear whether the cholesterol (Chol) backbone or the tertiary amine head group of DC-Chol was responsible for this.

Protein instability and immunogenicity: roadblocks to clinical application of injectable protein delivery systems for sustained release.

Protein instability and immunogenicity are two main roadblocks to the clinical success of novel protein drug delivery systems. In this commentary, we discuss the need for more extensive analytical characterization in relation to concerns about protein instability in injectable drug delivery systems for sustained release. We then will briefly address immunogenicity concerns and outline current best practices for using state-of-the-art analytical assays to monitor protein stability for both conventional and novel therapeutic protein dosage forms.