Vinyl ether lipids with cleavable hydrophilic headgroups

摘要

A novel amphiphilic lipid compound having a cleavable, vinyl ether linked hydrophilic headgroup is described. Also described are liposomes containing the vinyl ether lipid compound, which may be triggered to release their contents and/or permeablize or fuse with target lipid membranes. The cleavable vinyl ether linkage allows the hydrophilic headgroup to be dissociated from the hydrophobic tailgroup(s) of the lipid compound to facilitate phase transitions in the lipid bilayer.