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. 1988 Nov;85(21):8067–8071. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.21.8067

Phosphatidylserine as a determinant of reticuloendothelial recognition of liposome models of the erythrocyte surface.

T M Allen 1, P Williamson 1, R A Schlegel 1
PMCID: PMC282355  PMID: 3186707

Abstract

Liposomes formulated to resemble the outer leaflet of the erythrocyte membrane were found to substantially avoid recognition and clearance by the reticuloendothelial system. When these models of the erythrocyte surface were modified by the incorporation of greater than 2 mol % of phosphatidylserine (PtdSer), their ability to remain in the circulation of mice was greatly reduced. To examine whether this altered behavior was the consequence of an alteration in bilayer organization induced by PtdSer, a method utilizing the fluorescent dye merocyanine 540 was used to assess the packing of external phospholipids. No significant difference in overall membrane lipid organization was detected between liposomes containing 2 or 3 mol % of PtdSer, at which dramatic differences in recognition and clearance occurred. These results exclude alterations in phospholipid packing as an indirect cause of increased clearance of PtdSer-containing liposomes and implicate PtdSer directly in recognition by the reticuloendothelial system.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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