By now, lipid nanoparticles (LNP) are well-established vehicles for drug delivery. Here, I will report on work from my group on a special type of LNPs named “fusogenic liposomes” (FL). They are formed by a ternary lipid mixture comprising a positively charged lipid (most often DOTAP), a lipid with inverted conical shape (e.g. DOPE), and an aromatic lipid (e.g. a fluorescent membrane probe). These nanoparticles fuse rapidly with cell membranes. They efficiently deliver molecular cargo like drugs, proteins, lipids, or nucleic acids into livingcells both in culture and in the organism. Because FLs rapidly fuse with the plasma membrane, delivery is very fast and cargo digestion is minimized. Moreover, no inflammatory processes are initiated. In this presentation, I will describe some applications of FLs and our ongoing work to unravel their function mechanisms. 

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