Biocatalytic Synthesis of Phospholipids and Their Application as Coating Agents for CaCO3 Nano-crystals: Characterization and Intracellular Localization Analysis

Inorganic nanoparticles are widely investigated as drug delivery systems. In particular micro and nano-particles of CaCO3 offer smart features for different biomaterials applications. In this work we exploit the phospholipids coating of nano-CaCO3. We prepare modified phospholipids through a chemo-enzymatic approach using Phospholipase D to efficiently transform the most abundant natural phospholipids in two products, snglycero- 3-phosphocholine (GPC) and sn-glycero-3-phosphoserine (GPS). We have investigated and modified the Spray Drier process to obtain nano-crystals with specific phase, surface zpotential and morphology. The intracellular localization of coated nano-crystals was achieved by ultrastructural microscopy analysis. The synthetized phospholipids, GPC and GPS, improve nano-CaCO3 proprieties and promote a specific targeting as opposed to a widespread and nonspecific localization in the cell.