Cold Plasma‐Activated Liposomes as a Strategy for Controlled Metal‐Based Drug Delivery
ABSTRACT This study introduces plasma‐triggered liposomal cargo release as a promising new approach for externally activatable drug delivery systems (DDS). The metal complex [Pt(1 S ,2 S ‐diaminocyclohexane)(4,7‐dimethoxy‐1,10‐phenanthroline)] 2+ ( 1 ) was encapsulated into L‐α‐phosphatidylcholine liposomes. Liposomal formulations of 1 were treated with a microscale atmospheric pressure plasma jet (cold atmospheric plasma, CAP), and cargo release was monitored with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP‐OES). Moreover, the cytotoxic activity of 1 and its liposomal formulation treated with CAP for different times was analyzed via cell viability assays and calibrated to control experiments. Liposomal encapsulation enhances cytotoxicity and protects the metal complex from plasma‐induced decomposition, thereby offering a novel, enhanced DDS that overcomes the limited penetration depth of plasma‐generated short‐lived RONS as a direct antiproliferative modality.
Authors
- Axel Steinbrueck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6014-3204)
- Andrew Robert Gibson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1082-4359)
- Frank M.L. Peeters (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9469-8238)
- Nils Metzler‐Nolte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8111-9959)
- Niklas Nawrath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2291-3658)
- Nandan Sheernaly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9343-8429)
- Luisa Lachnicht (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3709-1476)
- Fabian Vogel Martin
- Fahd Afzal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0856-7910)
Institutions
- University of York (GB)
- Ruhr University Bochum (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Plasma Processes and Polymers
- Published
- 2026-10-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ppap.70270
- Primary Topic
- Plasma Applications and Diagnostics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00