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H M Patel

Publications and source records attributed to H M Patel.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Opsonophagocytosis of liposomes by peritoneal macrophages and bone marrow reticuloendothelial cells.

We investigated the opsonic effect of serum on the phagocytosis of cholesterol-poor and cholesterol-rich liposomes with freshly prepared rat bone marrow and peritoneal phagocytes in suspension. The presence of serum in incubation increased the uptake of cholesterol-rich but not cholesterol-poor liposomes in bone marrow cells, whereas serum enhances phagocytosis of both liposome preparations in peritoneal phagocytes. The opsonic activity of serum on the uptake of liposomes by both cell types is destroyed by heat, ammonium hydroxide, and zymosan treatments of serum, which suggests the involvement of complement in phagocytosis of liposomes. However, bone marrow cells and peritoneal macrophages responded differently when incubated with dialysed or EGTA-chelated serum. These treatments result in complete loss of the opsonic effect of serum on the uptake of liposome in bone marrow cells. Addition of serum dialysate or divalent cations to dialysed serum do not reinstall its lost opsonic activity. Thus these results shade doubt on possibility of involvement of complements in phagocytosis of liposomes by bone marrow cells. Dialysed or EGTA-treated serum also failed to promote liposome uptake by peritoneal macrophages but unlike in the case of bone marrow cells replacement of divalent cations to such sera reinstalls its opsonic activity and enhances phagocytosis of liposomes by peritoneal macrophages. These observations suggest the involvement of different serum components on liposome uptake by bone marrow cells and peritoneal macrophages, and emphasize the complexities associated with RES-mediated blood clearance of the intravenously injected liposomes. The properties of these opsonins are compared with those of 'liver-' and 'spleen-specific' opsonins responsible for phagocytosis of liposomes by Kupffer cells and spleen macrophages, respectively [4]. It is suggested that these tissue specific opsonins are responsible for distribution of intravenously injected liposomes in various organs of the reticuloendothelial system.

Ammonium Hydroxide↗

Serum opsonins and liposomes: their interaction and opsonophagocytosis.

Removal of intravenously injected liposomes from the circulation is achieved by cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system, also known as the reticuloendothelial system. On exposure to blood, liposomes become coated with plasma proteins; some of these proteins (opsonins) are thought to determine their recognition by mononuclear phagocytes. This review provides a critical discussion of factors that control opsonization of liposomes and their phagocytosis in vivo and in vitro.

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Calcium as a possible modulator of Kupffer cell phagocytic function by regulating liver-specific opsonic activity.

Recently we described some properties of organ-specific serum opsonins which differentiate between liver- and spleen-specific opsonic activities, and reported that, on dialysis of serum, its liver opsonic activity is enhanced by 2- to 3-fold, whereas spleen-specific activity is reduced by 20-30% of that of control serum (Moghimi, S.M. and Patel, H.M. (1989) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 984, 379-383). This observation suggests that serum contains dialysable factors which regulate liver- as well as spleen-specific opsonic activities. Our results from EGTA-treated serum suggest that dialysable factor(s) could be divalent cations such as Ca2+, Mn2+, Mg2+ or Co2+, and among them, calcium may be the key regulatory factor for liver-specific opsonic activity. The regulatory mechanism of spleen-specific opsonic activity seems to be complex, since addition of dialysate or calcium or magnesium to the dialysed serum does not restore its activity; probably the removal of divalent cations has induced an irreversible conformational change in spleen-specific opsonin. In conclusion, we propose that the blood calcium concentration may play an important role in modulating hepatic phagocytic function by modifying liver-specific opsonic activity in serum. An increase in the physiological concentration of calcium will suppress and a decrease will enhance this opsonic activity.

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Differential properties of organ-specific serum opsonins for liver and spleen macrophages.

Earlier we reported that serum contains organ-specific opsonins which selectively enhance recognition of liposomes by macrophages in the specific organs of the reticuloendothelial system (Moghimi, S.M. and Patel, H.M. (1988) FEBS Lett. 233, 143-147). The results presented here describe the properties of these organ-specific opsonins which differentiate between liver-specific and spleen-specific opsonins responsible for the enhancement of phagocytosis of liposomes by Kupffer cells and spleen macrophage, respectively. Liver-specific opsonin is a heat-stable macromolecule which on heating or on freezing and thawing exhibits enhanced opsonic activity. Serum also contains a dialysable factor which inhibits its opsonic activity. On the other hand, the spleen-specific opsonin is a heat-labile macromolecule which is sensitive to freezing and thawing and requires a dialysable serum co-factor for its optimum opsonic activity on spleen macrophages. Removal of this factor from serum brings about an irreversible conformational change in the opsonin. Evidence suggests that the spleen-specific opsonin may be composed of more than one different opsonin molecule. It is suggested that the serum factor(s) that inhibits liver-specific opsonic activity and enhances the spleen-specific activity may not be the same molecule, but in both the cases the factor(s) may mediate its function by modifying the process of the opsonisation of liposomes or by influencing the interaction of the opsonised liposomes with the respective cells. We propose that purification of the organ-specific opsonins may provide an opportunity to target drug carriers selectively to a specific organ of the reticuloendothelial system, and help us to evaluate their role in the altered opsonin states known to exist in certain diseases.

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Serum opsonins and phagocytosis of saturated and unsaturated phospholipid liposomes.

Recently we reported that serum contains opsonins specific for hepatic and splenic phagocytic cells and that these opsonins have different properties and affinities for cholesterol-rich and cholesterol-free egg phosphatidylcholine liposomes (Moghimi, S.M. and Patel, H.M. (1988) FEBS Lett. 233, 143-147). In the present report we investigate the affinity of these opsonins for the liposomes prepared from sphingomyelin and saturated phospholipids, as measured by their effect on the uptake of these liposomes by hepatic and splenic phagocytic cells. Results presented here suggest that neither liver- nor spleen-specific opsonins have affinity for sphingomyelin or saturated phospholipid liposomes since serum fails to enhance their uptake in liver or splenic cells. On the contrary, these liposomes attract serum dysopsonins which inhibit their uptake by liver cells. Inclusion of cholesterol in these liposome preparations enhances their uptake in splenic cells but not in liver cells. It is suggested that fluidity and hydrophobicity of liposomal membranes play an important role in attracting the right opsonins which determine their phagocytic fate.

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Fc receptor-mediated transcytosis of IgG-coated liposomes across epithelial barriers.

Drug carriers such as liposomes are not readily transported across cellular barriers that constitute epithelia. However, certain epithelia (rabbit yolk sac endoderm and enterocytes of suckling rat gut proximal small intestine) are well known to transcytose maternal IgG by Fc receptor-mediated endocytic events. We have shown that coating liposomes with appropriate IgG enhances their transport across these epithelia, as measured both by radioactivity indicative of liposomal membrane or entrapped 125I-PVP and [3H]inulin, and by the hypoglycemic effect of entrapped insulin. It is suggested that these transported liposomes follow a pathway of transcytosis in clathrin-coated vesicles, thus escaping lysosomal degradation.

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Tissue specific opsonins for phagocytic cells and their different affinity for cholesterol-rich liposomes.

In accordance with the finding of our in vivo experiments reported earlier [(1983) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 761, 142-157; (1986) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 888, 184-190], the results of in vitro experiments show that Kupffer cells avidly take up cholesterol-poor but not cholesterol-rich liposomes, whereas splenic phagocytic cells take up preferentially cholesterol-rich rather than cholesterol-poor liposomes in the presence of serum. Evidence presented here suggests that serum contains opsonins specific for hepatic and splenic phagocytic cells and these opsonins have different affinities for cholesterol-rich and cholesterol-poor liposomes.

Adsorption↗

Differentiation in hepatic and splenic phagocytic activity during reticuloendothelial blockade with cholesterol-free and cholesterol-rich liposomes.

We have shown earlier that liver and spleen reticuloendothelial cells have low affinity to phagocyte liposomes containing cholesterol. In the present study, we predosed mice with cholesterol-rich (identical to = 46.6 mol% cholesterol content) and cholesterol-free (identical to 0 mol%) liposomes to saturate the reticuloendothelial cells and examined the tissue distribution of the second dose of the test liposomes containing an aqueous marker, 125I-labelled poly(vinylpyrrolidone). The result shows that both preparations of the predosed liposomes caused suppression in hepatic uptake and delay in the blood clearance of the test liposomes, but the cholesterol-free liposomes were more effective in producing these effects than the cholesterol-rich liposomes. The suppression in hepatic phagocytic function, in accordance with the 'spillover' phenomenon [16, 17], caused an enhancement in spleen and lung uptake. The increase in lung uptake was proportionally related to the degree of suppression in the hepatic uptake, but the results of the splenic uptake showed some discrepancy. The predosed cholesterol-free liposomes which caused the maximum spillover of the test liposomes from the liver did not achieve maximum enhancement in the splenic uptake. Instead, the maximum enhancement was recorded with the predosed cholesterol-rich liposomes. This discrepancy in splenic uptake suggests that the predosed liposomes caused saturation of not only liver also the spleen reticuloendothelial system. However, instead of suppression in the splenic uptake due to the saturation, enhancement in uptake of the test liposomes was observed. We suggest the cause of this apparent increase the splenic phagocytic activity may be due to stimulation, by some unknown mechanism of splenic macrophages endothelial cells and/or lymphocytes, to phagocyte the excess of the test liposomes spillover from the liver with impaired phagocytic function.

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Lymph node localization of non-specific antibody-coated liposomes.

Subcutaneously injected small unilamellar liposomes are drained into the lymphatics and localized in the regional lymph nodes, and thus they can be used for the detection of metastatic spread in breast cancer patients and for delivery of drugs to diseased lymph nodes (1-8). An aqueous phase marker, [125I]-polyvinylpyrrolidone, and a lipid phase marker, [3H]-cholesterol, were used to study the lymph node localization of IgG-coated liposomes injected subcutaneously into mouse and rat footpads. The results show that human immunoglobulin G (IgG) coated liposomes are rapidly removed from the site of injection and are localized in the regional lymph nodes to a greater extent than control liposomes (i.e. liposomes without IgG). Free IgG was found to inhibit the uptake of IgG-coated liposomes by the lymph nodes. The localization of IgG-coated liposomes in the regional lymph nodes is influenced by charge of the liposomes. The results presented here suggest that antibody-coated liposomes may provide a more efficient way of delivering therapeutic agents to the lymph nodes in the treatment of diseases such as breast cancer with lymph node involvement. Similarly, monoclonal antibody-coated liposomes containing lymphoscintigraphic material may improve the detection of lymph node metastases.

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Intracellular digestion of saturated and unsaturated phospholipid liposomes by mucosal cells. Possible mechanism of transport of liposomally entrapped macromolecules across the isolated vascularly perfused rabbit ileum.

The mechanism of intestinal absorption of liposomally entrapped [14C]inulin and 125I-labelled poly(vinylpyrrolidone) was studied using the isolated rabbit intestinal loop with intact perfused vasculature, a system more closely resembling an in vivo system than the everted sac technique. [14C]Inulin or 125I-poly(vinylpyrrolidone) was entrapped in liposomes prepared from unsaturated egg phosphatidylcholine and soya phosphatidylcholine, and saturated distearoylphosphatidylcholine (18:0), dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (16:0) and dimyrostoylphosphatidylcholine (14:0). Free and liposomally entrapped macromolecules were introduced in the ileum and the transport of liposomes and entrapped macromolecules into the venous effluent was monitored by measuring the presence of the aqueous marker 125I-poly(vinylpyrrolidone) or [14C]inulin, and lipid marker [3H]cholesterol. The results show that intact liposomes are not transported across intestine into the venous effluent, but they are taken up by mucosal cells and digested intracellularly, releasing the entrapped markers 125I-poly(vinylpyrrolidone) and [14C]inulin. These markers are then transported into the venous effluent as free molecules. The absorption of liposomally entrapped [14C]inulin into the venous effluent is biphasic, first slow for 30 min (i.e., a lag period of 30 min), followed by a rapid linear increase. The duration of the lag period and the rate of absorption of the entrapped [14C]inulin are dependent on the degree of saturation and the transition temperature of the phospholipids used to prepare liposomes. The possible explanation of the lag period based on the evidence presented here is that it is the time required for the liposomes to be taken up by mucosal cells and digested intracellularly. Intracellular digestion of liposomes prepared from saturated phospholipids is more rapid than from those prepared from unsaturated phospholipids, and the greater the fatty acid chain length of the saturated phospholipids the more rapid the intracellular degradation of liposomes.

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Assessment of the potential uses of liposomes for lymphoscintigraphy and lymphatic drug delivery. Failure of 99m-technetium marker to represent intact liposomes in lymph nodes.

The in vivo fate of subcutaneously injected neutral SUV liposomes in rats was examined using a membrane marker, 99mTc, and an aqueous marker, 125I-labelled poly(vinyl pyrrolidone). Liposomes with entrapped 125I-labelled poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) were labelled with 99mTc by the SnCl2 method. 99mTc-radioactivity was localized several-fold more in the primary and secondary regional lymph nodes than 125I-labelled poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)-radioactivity. Similarly, 99mTc-radioactivity appeared and was subsequently cleared from the circulation much more rapidly than 125I-labelled poly(vinyl pyrrolidone). The gel chromatography of the lymph node homogenate revealed that 60-70% of 125I-labelled poly(vinyl pyrrolidone)-radioactivity was in the liposome fractions, whereas only 3% of 99mTc-radioactivity was co-eluted with the liposomes. Thus, the two markers have different fates in the lymphatics, and the presence of all 99mTc-radioactivity does not represent the 60-70% of intact liposomes present in lymph nodes. Using the aqueous marker 125I-labelled poly(vinyl pyrrolidone), the lymph node localization of positive, negative and neutral small unilamellar vesicles was studied, and it was found that 125I-radioactivity was more localized from negative liposomes than from positive liposomes, which in turn was more localized than that from neutral liposomes. Thus, these findings differ from those reported earlier, where the authors used 99mTc as a liposomal marker. In vitro studies showed that liposomes of preparations containing 20 mol% cholesterol became 'leaky' to low-molecular-weight drugs, for example, methotrexate (Mr 454) to a much greater extent than with a large-molecular-weight substance, 125I-labelled poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (Mr 30 000-40 000), when incubated with rat lymph at 37 degrees C. Using the two markers 99mTc and 125I-labelled poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) it was found that the localization of both radioactivities was reduced in lymph nodes draining lambda-carrageenan-treated footpads. In conclusion, it is suggested that liposomes can be used for the delivery of drugs to diseased lymph nodes, and it would be worthwhile examining the possibilities of using alternative methods of labelling liposomes with 99mTc rather than using the SnCl2 technique, or using other radionuclides as markers for gamma-scan imaging.

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Inhibitory effect of cholesterol on the uptake of liposomes by liver and spleen.

The effect of cholesterol content of small unilamellar (SUV) and reverse phase (REV) liposomes on blood clearance and tissue distribution has been studied. [14C]Inulin has been used as an aqueous marker of liposomes to represent the uptake of intact liposomes in tissues. The blood clearance of the intravenously-injected SUV and REV liposomes depends on the cholesterol content of liposomes. The cholesterol-free (0 mol%) liposomes are cleared more readily from the circulation than the cholesterol-poor liposomes (20 mol%) and the cholesterol-poor are cleared more rapidly than the cholesterol-rich (46.6 mol%) liposomes. This clearance pattern of liposomes from the circulation is not attributed to the change of size of liposomes due to the increase in cholesterol content of liposomes. However, poor stability of cholesterol-free or cholesterol-poor liposomes in the circulation is partly responsible, but the predominant factor responsible for the observed blood clearance pattern is the inhibitory effect of cholesterol on the uptake of liposomes by reticuloendothelial-rich tissues liver and spleen. Uptake of liposomes by these organs is decreased with increasing cholesterol content of vesicles. It is suggested that to produce liposome preparations with a long circulating half life in vivo it is necessary to inhibit their uptake by liver and spleen.

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