Light emitting diode (LED) irradiation of liposomes enhances drug encapsulation and delivery for improved cancer eradication

Liposomes are widely used as drug delivery nanoplatforms because of their versatility and biocompatibility; however, their ability to load certain drugs may be suboptimal. In this study, we generated liposomes using a combination of DSPE and DSPE-PEG-2 k lipids and loaded them with doxorubicin (DOX) and paclitaxel (PTX), to investigate the effects of light emitting diode (LED) irradiation on liposome structure and drug loading efficiency. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy revealed that the surface of liposomes irradiated with blue or near-infrared LEDs (LsLipo) was rougher and more irregular than that of non-LED-irradiated liposomes (NsLipo). Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis showed that the hydrogen peak originating from the lipid head groups was lower in LsLipo than in NsLipo preparations, indicating that LED irradiation changed the chemical and physical properties of the liposome. Structural changes, such as reduced rigidity, induced by LED irradiation, increased the loading efficiency of DOX and PTX. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that LsLipo were more effective at inhibiting the growth of cancer cells than NsLipo. Our findings suggest that LED irradiation enhances the drug delivery efficacy of liposomes and offer new possibilities for improving drug delivery systems.