Chandrashekhar V Kulkarni
University of Central Lancashire, UK
Title: Applications of Lipid Nanostructures and Hybrid Systems for Drug Delivery
Biography
Biography: Chandrashekhar V Kulkarni
Abstract
Being amphiphilic in nature, lipid molecules self-assemble into various nanostructures in aqueous environment. The structural geometries vary from simple spherical to complex 3-dimensional architectures. The applicability of these lipid phases is enhanced by dispersing them into particulate form. These dispersions take the form of oil-in-water emulsions which require either or a combination of stabilizer and high energy. Interesting thing to note is that the original (before dispersion) self-assembly is retained inside the dispersed lipid particles. Recently, we have developed a hybrid system based on various carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and lipid molecules. Both of these components act as mutual stabilizers. Currently, both - CNTs and nanostructured lipid particles are being explored for their drug delivery applications independently. However, our hybrid system combines properties of both the constituents. Another hybrid system is based on immobilization of nanostructured lipid particles in hydrogel films. Fabrication, characterization and applications of these hybrid drug carrier systems will be presented.
