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Mukherjee P, Aksamitiene E, Alex A, Shi J, Bera K, Zhang C, Spillman DR, Marjanovic M, Fazio M, Seth PP, Frazier K, Hood SR, Boppart SA. Differential Uptake of Antisense Oligonucleotides in Mouse Hepatocytes and Macrophages Revealed by Simultaneous Two-Photon Excited Fluorescence and Coherent Raman Imaging. Nucleic Acid Ther 2021; 32:163-176. [PMID: 34797690 PMCID: PMC9221167 DOI: 10.1089/nat.2021.0059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), a novel paradigm in modern therapeutics, modulate cellular gene expression by binding to complementary messenger RNA (mRNA) sequences. While advances in ASO medicinal chemistry have greatly improved the efficiency of cellular uptake, selective uptake by specific cell types has been difficult to achieve. For more efficient and selective uptake, ASOs are often conjugated with molecules with high binding affinity for transmembrane receptors. Triantennary N-acetyl-galactosamine conjugated phosphorothioate ASOs (GalNAc-PS-ASOs) were developed to enhance targeted ASO delivery into liver through the hepatocyte-specific asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGR). We assessed the kinetics of uptake and subsequent intracellular distribution of AlexaFluor 488 (AF488)-labeled PS-ASOs and GalNAc-PS-ASOs in J774A.1 mouse macrophages and primary mouse or rat hepatocytes using simultaneous coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) and two-photon fluorescence (2PF) imaging. The CARS modality captured the dynamic lipid distributions and overall morphology of the cells; two-photon fluorescence (2PF) measured the time- and dose-dependent localization of ASOs delivered by a modified treatment of suspension cells. Our results show that in macrophages, the uptake rate of PS-ASOs did not significantly differ from that of GalNAc-PS-ASOs. However, in hepatocytes, GalNAc-PS-ASOs exhibited a peripheral uptake distribution compared to a polar uptake distribution observed in macrophages. The peripheral distribution correlated with a significantly larger amount of internalized GalNAc-PS-ASOs compared to the PS-ASOs. This work demonstrates the relevance of multimodal imaging for elucidating the uptake mechanism, accumulation, and fate of different ASOs in liver cells that can be used further in complex in vitro models and liver tissues to evaluate ASO distribution and activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prabuddha Mukherjee
- GSK Center for Optical Molecular Imaging and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Edita Aksamitiene
- GSK Center for Optical Molecular Imaging and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Aneesh Alex
- GSK Center for Optical Molecular Imaging and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,In vitro/In vivo Translation, Research, GlaxoSmithKline, Collegeville, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Jindou Shi
- GSK Center for Optical Molecular Imaging and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Kajari Bera
- GSK Center for Optical Molecular Imaging and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Chi Zhang
- GSK Center for Optical Molecular Imaging and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Darold R Spillman
- GSK Center for Optical Molecular Imaging and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Marina Marjanovic
- GSK Center for Optical Molecular Imaging and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Michael Fazio
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Carlsbad, California, USA
| | - Punit P Seth
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Carlsbad, California, USA
| | - Kendall Frazier
- In vitro/In vivo Translation, Research, GlaxoSmithKline, Collegeville, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Steve R Hood
- GSK Center for Optical Molecular Imaging and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,In vitro/In vivo Translation, Research, GlaxoSmithKline, Stevenage, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen A Boppart
- GSK Center for Optical Molecular Imaging and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.,Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
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Deprey K, Batistatou N, Kritzer JA. A critical analysis of methods used to investigate the cellular uptake and subcellular localization of RNA therapeutics. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:7623-7639. [PMID: 32644123 PMCID: PMC7430645 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2020] [Revised: 06/17/2020] [Accepted: 06/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
RNA therapeutics are a promising strategy to treat genetic diseases caused by the overexpression or aberrant splicing of a specific protein. The field has seen major strides in the clinical efficacy of this class of molecules, largely due to chemical modifications and delivery strategies that improve nuclease resistance and enhance cell penetration. However, a major obstacle in the development of RNA therapeutics continues to be the imprecise, difficult, and often problematic nature of most methods used to measure cell penetration. Here, we review these methods and clearly distinguish between those that measure total cellular uptake of RNA therapeutics, which includes both productive and non-productive uptake, and those that measure cytosolic/nuclear penetration, which represents only productive uptake. We critically analyze the benefits and drawbacks of each method. Finally, we use key examples to illustrate how, despite rigorous experimentation and proper controls, our understanding of the mechanism of gymnotic uptake of RNA therapeutics remains limited by the methods commonly used to analyze RNA delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirsten Deprey
- Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, 62 Talbot Ave, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Nefeli Batistatou
- Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, 62 Talbot Ave, Medford, MA 02155, USA
| | - Joshua A Kritzer
- Department of Chemistry, Tufts University, 62 Talbot Ave, Medford, MA 02155, USA
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