Cell membranes are very complex biological systems including a large variety of lipids and proteins. Therefore, they are difficult to extract and directly investigate with biophysical methods. For many decades, the characterization of simpler biomimetic lipid membranes, which contain only a few lipid species, provided important physico-chemical information on the most abundant lipid species in cell membranes. These studies described physical and chemical properties that are most likely similar to those of real cell membranes. Indeed, biomimetic lipid membranes can be easily prepared in the lab and are compatible with multiple biophysical techniques. Lipid phase transitions, the bilayer structure, the impact of cholesterol on the structure and dynamics of lipid bilayers, and the selective recognition of target lipids by proteins, peptides, and drugs are all examples of the detailed information about cell membranes obtained by the investigation of biomimetic lipid membranes. This review focuses specifically on the advances that were achieved during the last decade in the field of biomimetic lipid membranes mimicking the mammalian plasma membrane. In particular, we provide a description of the most common types of lipid membrane models used for biophysical characterization, i.e., lipid membranes in solution and on surfaces, as well as recent examples of their applications for the investigation of protein-lipid and drug-lipid interactions. Altogether, promising directions for future developments of biomimetic lipid membranes are the further implementation of natural lipid mixtures for the development of more biologically relevant lipid membranes, as well as the development of sample preparation protocols that enable the incorporation of membrane proteins in the biomimetic lipid membranes.

Looking for new metal-based anticancer treatments, in recent years many ruthenium complexes have been proposed as effective and safe potential drugs. In this context we have recently developed a novel approach for the in vivo delivery of Ru(III) complexes, preparing stable ruthenium-based nucleolipidic nanoaggregates endowed with significant antiproliferative activity. Herein we describe the cellular response to our ruthenium-containing formulations in selected models of human breast cancer. By in vitro bioscreens in the context of preclinical studies, we have focused on their ability to inhibit breast cancer cell proliferation by the activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway, possibly via mitochondrial perturbations involving Bcl-2 family members and predisposing to programmed cell death. In addition, the most efficient ruthenium-containing cationic nanoaggregates we have hitherto developed are able to elicit both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptosis, as well as autophagy. To limit chemoresistance and counteract uncontrolled proliferation, multiple cell death pathways activation by metal-based chemotherapeutics is a challenging, yet very promising strategy for targeted therapy development in aggressive cancer diseases, such as triple-negative breast cancer with limited treatment options. These outcomes provide valuable, original knowledge on ruthenium-based candidate drugs and new insights for future optimized cancer treatment protocols.

Aiming for novel tools for anticancer therapies, a ruthenium complex, covalently linked to a cholesterol-containing nucleolipid and stabilized by co-aggregation with a biocompatible lipid, is here presented. The amphiphilic ruthenium complex, named ToThyCholRu, is intrinsically negatively charged and has been inserted into liposomes formed by the cationic 1,2-dioleyl-3-trimethylammoniumpropane chloride (DOTAP) to hinder the degradation kinetics typically observed for known ruthenium-based antineoplastic agents. The here described nanovectors contain up to 30% in moles of the ruthenium complex and are stable for several weeks. This drug delivery system has been characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS), small angle neutron scattering (SANS), neutron reflectivity (NR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques. Fluorescence microscopy, following the incorporation of rhodamine-B within the ruthenium-loaded liposomes, showed fast cellular uptake in human carcinoma cells, with a strong fluorescence accumulation within the cells. The in vitro bioactivity profile revealed an important antiproliferative activity and, most remarkably, the highest ability in ruthenium vectorization measured so far. Cellular morphological changes and DNA fragmentation provided evidence of an apoptosis-inducing activity, in line with several in vitro studies supporting apoptotic events as the main cause for the anticancer properties of ruthenium derivatives. Overall, these data highlighted the crucial role played by the cellular uptake properties in determining the anticancer efficacy of ruthenium-based drugs, showing DOTAP as a very efficient nanocarrier for their stabilization in aqueous media and transport in cells. In vitro bioscreens have shown the high antiproliferative activity of ToThyCholRu–DOTAP liposomes against specific human adenocarcinoma cell types. Furthermore, these formulations have proved to be over 20-fold more effective against MCF-7 and WiDr adenocarcinoma cells with respect to the nude ruthenium complex AziRu we have previously described.