3. Processes to generate liposomes

Liposomes are spherical vesicles composed of an aqueous core (intravesicular medium) and a membrane formed by one or several phospholipid bilayers. As phospholipids are amphiphilic, in the presence of water they spontaneously organize themselves so that the polar heads (phosphate groups) interact with water, and the hydrophobic tails (long hydrocarbon chains) are grouped together. This results in a structure that can encapsulate hydrophilic substances (in the aqueous core) together with hydrophobic substances (in the bilayer) or amphiphilic substances. As active ingredient vectors they are of great interest because:

• they are non-toxic;

• ...