1
|
Sekar RP, Lawson JL, Wright ARE, McGrath C, Schadeck C, Kumar P, Tay JW, Dragavon J, Kumar R. Poly(l-glutamic acid) augments the transfection performance of lipophilic polycations by overcoming tradeoffs among cytotoxicity, pDNA delivery efficiency, and serum stability. RSC APPLIED POLYMERS 2024; 2:701-718. [PMID: 39035825 PMCID: PMC11255917 DOI: 10.1039/d4lp00085d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 04/27/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024]
Abstract
Polycations are scalable and affordable nanocarriers for delivering therapeutic nucleic acids. Yet, cationicity-dependent tradeoffs between nucleic acid delivery efficiency, cytotoxicity, and serum stability hinder clinical translation. Typically, the most efficient polycationic vehicles also tend to be the most toxic. For lipophilic polycations-which recruit hydrophobic interactions in addition to electrostatic interactions to bind and deliver nucleic acids-extensive chemical or architectural modifications sometimes fail to resolve intractable toxicity-efficiency tradeoffs. Here, we employ a facile post-synthetic polyplex surface modification strategy wherein poly(l-glutamic acid) (PGA) rescues toxicity, inhibits hemolysis, and prevents serum inhibition of lipophilic polycation-mediated plasmid (pDNA) delivery. Importantly, the sequence in which polycations, pDNA, and PGA are combined dictates pDNA conformations and spatial distribution. Circular dichroism spectroscopy reveals that PGA must be added last to polyplexes assembled from lipophilic polycations and pDNA; else, PGA will disrupt polycation-mediated pDNA condensation. Although PGA did not mitigate toxicity caused by hydrophilic PEI-based polycations, PGA tripled the population of transfected viable cells for lipophilic polycations. Non-specific adsorption of serum proteins abrogated pDNA delivery mediated by lipophilic polycations; however, PGA-coated polyplexes proved more serum-tolerant than uncoated polyplexes. Despite lower cellular uptake than uncoated polyplexes, PGA-coated polyplexes were imported into nuclei at higher rates. PGA also silenced the hemolytic activity of lipophilic polycations. Our work provides fundamental insights into how polyanionic coatings such as PGA transform intermolecular interactions between lipophilic polycations, nucleic acids, and serum proteins, and facilitate gentle yet efficient transgene delivery.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ram Prasad Sekar
- Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines Golden CO 80401 USA
| | | | - Aryelle R E Wright
- Quantitative Biosciences and Engineering, Colorado School of Mines Golden CO 80401 USA
| | - Caleb McGrath
- Quantitative Biosciences and Engineering, Colorado School of Mines Golden CO 80401 USA
| | - Cesar Schadeck
- Materials Science, Colorado School of Mines Golden CO 80401 USA
| | - Praveen Kumar
- Shared Instrumentation Facility, Colorado School of Mines Golden CO USA
| | - Jian Wei Tay
- BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder CO 80303 USA
| | - Joseph Dragavon
- BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder CO 80303 USA
| | - Ramya Kumar
- Chemical and Biological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines Golden CO 80401 USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Nabar N, Dacoba TG, Covarrubias G, Romero-Cruz D, Hammond PT. Electrostatic adsorption of polyanions onto lipid nanoparticles controls uptake, trafficking, and transfection of RNA and DNA therapies. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2307809121. [PMID: 38437543 PMCID: PMC10945854 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2307809121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Rapid advances in nucleic acid therapies highlight the immense therapeutic potential of genetic therapeutics. Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are highly potent nonviral transfection agents that can encapsulate and deliver various nucleic acid therapeutics, including but not limited to messenger RNA (mRNA), silencing RNA (siRNA), and plasmid DNA (pDNA). However, a major challenge of targeted LNP-mediated systemic delivery is the nanoparticles' nonspecific uptake by the liver and the mononuclear phagocytic system, due partly to the adsorption of endogenous serum proteins onto LNP surfaces. Tunable LNP surface chemistries may enable efficacious delivery across a range of organs and cell types. Here, we describe a method to electrostatically adsorb bioactive polyelectrolytes onto LNPs to create layered LNPs (LLNPs). LNP cores varying in nucleic acid cargo and component lipids were stably layered with four biologically relevant polyanions: hyaluronate (HA), poly-L-aspartate (PLD), poly-L-glutamate (PLE), and polyacrylate (PAA). We further investigated the impact of the four surface polyanions on the transfection and uptake of mRNA- and pDNA-loaded LNPs in cell cultures. PLD- and PLE-LLNPs increased mRNA transfection twofold over unlayered LNPs in immune cells. HA-LLNPs increased pDNA transfection rates by more than twofold in epithelial and immune cells. In a healthy C57BL/6 murine model, PLE- and HA-LLNPs increased transfection by 1.8-fold to 2.5-fold over unlayered LNPs in the liver and spleen. These results suggest that LbL assembly is a generalizable, highly tunable platform to modify the targeting specificity, stability, and transfection efficacy of LNPs, as well as incorporate other charged targeting and therapeutic molecules into these systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Namita Nabar
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
- Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Tamara G. Dacoba
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
- Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Gil Covarrubias
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Denisse Romero-Cruz
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
- Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
| | - Paula T. Hammond
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA02139
- Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, Cambridge, MA02139
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Liu J, Lu X, Wu T, Wu X, Han L, Ding B. Branched Antisense and siRNA Co-Assembled Nanoplatform for Combined Gene Silencing and Tumor Therapy. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2020; 60:1853-1860. [PMID: 33058467 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202011174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2020] [Revised: 10/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Chemically modified DNA has been widely developed to fabricate various nucleic acid nanostructures for biomedical applications. Herein, we report a facile strategy for construction of branched antisense DNA and small interfering RNA (siRNA) co-assembled nanoplatform for combined gene silencing in vitro and in vivo. In our design, the branched antisense can efficiently capture siRNA with 3' overhangs through DNA-RNA hybridization. After being equipped with an active targeting group and an endosomal escape peptide by host-guest interaction, the tailored nucleic acid nanostructure functions efficiently as both delivery carrier and therapeutic cargo, which is released by endogenous RNase H digestion. The multifunctional nucleic acid nanosystem elicits an efficient inhibition of tumor growth based on the combined gene silencing of the tumor-associated gene polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1). This biocompatible nucleic acid nanoplatform presents a new strategy for the development of gene therapy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jianbing Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, 11 BeiYiTiao, ZhongGuanCun, Beijing, 100190, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Xuehe Lu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, 11 BeiYiTiao, ZhongGuanCun, Beijing, 100190, China.,School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Institute of Advanced Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China
| | - Tiantian Wu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, 11 BeiYiTiao, ZhongGuanCun, Beijing, 100190, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Xiaohui Wu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, 11 BeiYiTiao, ZhongGuanCun, Beijing, 100190, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Lin Han
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, 11 BeiYiTiao, ZhongGuanCun, Beijing, 100190, China.,School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Institute of Advanced Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China
| | - Baoquan Ding
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, 11 BeiYiTiao, ZhongGuanCun, Beijing, 100190, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.,School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Institute of Advanced Technology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Liu J, Lu X, Wu T, Wu X, Han L, Ding B. Branched Antisense and siRNA Co‐Assembled Nanoplatform for Combined Gene Silencing and Tumor Therapy. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.202011174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jianbing Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience National Center for Nanoscience and Technology 11 BeiYiTiao, ZhongGuanCun Beijing 100190 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China
| | - Xuehe Lu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience National Center for Nanoscience and Technology 11 BeiYiTiao, ZhongGuanCun Beijing 100190 China
- School of Materials Science and Engineering Henan Institute of Advanced Technology Zhengzhou University Zhengzhou 450001 China
| | - Tiantian Wu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience National Center for Nanoscience and Technology 11 BeiYiTiao, ZhongGuanCun Beijing 100190 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China
| | - Xiaohui Wu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience National Center for Nanoscience and Technology 11 BeiYiTiao, ZhongGuanCun Beijing 100190 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China
| | - Lin Han
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience National Center for Nanoscience and Technology 11 BeiYiTiao, ZhongGuanCun Beijing 100190 China
- School of Materials Science and Engineering Henan Institute of Advanced Technology Zhengzhou University Zhengzhou 450001 China
| | - Baoquan Ding
- CAS Key Laboratory of Nanosystem and Hierarchical Fabrication CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience National Center for Nanoscience and Technology 11 BeiYiTiao, ZhongGuanCun Beijing 100190 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China
- School of Materials Science and Engineering Henan Institute of Advanced Technology Zhengzhou University Zhengzhou 450001 China
| |
Collapse
|