Contrast matching of selectively deuterated glycerides for scattering studies of lipid nanoparticles

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) can be formed from glycerides and loaded with diverse cargo for healthcare applications. A key advantage of LNPs over liposomes is the significant increase in membrane surface area. Quantifying the loading and location of cargo within the LNPs is a significant bottleneck to their application. We plan to form LNPs using selectively deuterated glycerides. The project has two key goals; firstly to establish how the level and position of the glyceride deuteration alters the contrast matching of the LNP lipid membrane, secondly to use contrast matching experiments to determine the structural arrangement of cargo and the LNP stabiliser i.e. are they surface based or intercalated into the lipid membrane. This has previously been impossible due to a lack of available deuterated compounds.