Packaging of the Coenzyme Q10 into a Liposome for Mitochondrial Delivery and the Intracellular Observation in Patient Derived Mitochondrial Disease Cells

While Coenzyme Q(10) (CoQ(10)) is thought to be effective for the treatment of a variety of diseases, it limits its cellular uptake. Because of the hydrophobic nature of CoQ(10), it is reasonable to assume that it could be encapsulated within a liposomal carrier. Several reports regarding the packaging of CoQ(10) in liposomes have appeared, but detailed investigations of the preparation of CoQ(10) encapsulated liposomes have not been reported. As a result, information regarding the optimal method of packaging CoQ(10) in liposomes is not available. In this study, several types of liposomes were prepared using different methods and their characteristics were compared. Since CoQ(10) is mainly located in the inner mitochondria! membrane, a liposome that targets mitochondria, a MITO-Porter, was used as a model liposome. It was possible to incorporate high levels of CoQ(10) into the carrier. Transmission electron microscopy analyses showed that an empty MITO-Porter and the CoQ(10)-MITO-Porter were structurally different from one another. Even though significant structural differences were observed, mitochondria! delivery was not affected in mitochondria! disease fibroblast cells, as evidenced by confocal laser scanning microscopy observations. The results reported herein suggest that the CoQ(10)-MITO-Porter might be a suitable candidate for the potential medical therapy of mitochondria-related diseases.