Fig. 3: Effect of liposome aromatization on different payloads.

a Structures of different small molecular payloads. b–d Cumulative release of Tetrodotoxin (TTX, b), Bupivacaine hydrochloride (Bup, c), Doxorubicin hydrochloride (Dox, d). e, f The decrease in the release of small molecular payloads as the function of molecular weight (e) and hydrophilicity (f). Cumulative release of rhodamine-conjugated polyethylene glycol with a molecular weight of 1000 (SRho-PEG1k, g), rhodamine-conjugated polyethylene glycol with a molecular weight of 10,000 (SRho-PEG10k, h), albumin-fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugate (FITC-Ab, i). j, k The decrease in drug release as the function of molecular weight (j) and hydrophilicity (k). In b–d and g–i, navy triangle, green square, and orange circle represent free payloads, liposomes encapsulating different payloads and aromatized liposomes encapsulating different payloads, respectively. In b–d, f, g–i, k, data are presented as mean ± SD, n = 4 independent experiments, and statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA with a Tukey post hoc test. In b–d and g–i, P-values compare groups at 168 h. TTX@Lipo vs TTX@Lipo-Ph, P < 0.0001; Bup@Lipo vs Bup@Lipo-Ph, P < 0.0001; Dox@Lipo vs Dox@Lipo-Ph, P < 0.0001; SRho-PEG1k@Lipo vs SRho-PEG1k@Lipo-Ph, P < 0.0001; SRho-10k@Lipo vs SRho-10k@Lipo-Ph, P = 0.0006; FITC-Ab@Lipo vs FITC-Ab@Lipo-Ph. P < 0.0001. In f, Bup vs Dox, P < 0.0001; Dox vs TTX, P = 0.0020; TTX vs SRho, P < 0.0001. In k, PEG1k-SRho vs PEG10k-SRho, P = 0.0346; PEG1k-SRho vs FITC-Ab, P < 0.0001; PEG10k-SRho vs FITC-Ab, P = 0.0057. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. ***P < 0.001.