A major challenge in the delivery of cargo (genes and/or drugs) to cells using nanostructured vehicles is the ability to safely penetrate plasma membranes by escaping the endosome before degradation, later releasing the payload into the cytoplasm or organelle of interest. Lipids are a class of bio-compatible molecules that self-assemble into a variety of liquid crystalline constructs. Most of these materials can be used to encapsulate drugs, proteins, and nucleic acids to deliver them safely into various cell types. Lipid phases offer a plethora of structures capable of forming complexes with biomolecules, most notably nucleic acids. The physichochemical characteristics of the lipid molecular building blocks, one might say the lipid primary structure, dictates how they collectively interact to assemble into various secondary structures. These include bilayers, lamellar stacks of bilayers, two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal arrays of lipid tubes, and even 3D cubic constructs. The liquid crystalline materials can be present in the form of aqueous suspensions, bulk materials or confined to a film configuration depending on the intended application (e.g. bolus vs surface-based delivery). This work compiles recent findings of different lipid-based liquid crystalline constructs both in films and particles for gene and drug delivery applications. We explore how lipid primary and secondary structures endow liquid crystalline materials with the ability to carry biomolecular cargo and interact with cells.

使用纳米结构载体将货物（基因和/或药物）输送到细胞中的主要挑战是通过降解之前逃逸内体，然后将有效载荷释放到感兴趣的细胞质或细胞器中来安全穿透质膜的能力。脂质是一类生物相容性分子，可自我组装成各种液晶构造。这些材料中的大多数可用于封装药物，蛋白质和核酸，以将其安全地递送到各种细胞类型中。脂质相提供了过多的结构，能够与生物分子（最著名的是核酸）形成复合物。脂质分子构建模块的physichochemical特点，可以说脂质主结构，决定了它们如何共同相互作用以组装成各种二级结构。这些包括双层，双层的层状堆叠，脂质管的二维（2D）六边形阵列，甚至是3D立方构造。取决于预期的应用（例如，大剂量与基于表面的递送），液晶材料可以以水悬浮液，块状材料的形式存在或限于薄膜构造。这项工作汇编了不同的基于脂质的液晶构造在膜和颗粒中的最新发现，用于基因和药物递送应用。我们探索脂质的一级和二级结构如何赋予液晶材料以携带生物分子货物和与细胞相互作用的能力。