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Abstract
RNA-based therapeutics have shown great promise in treating a broad spectrum of diseases through various mechanisms including knockdown of pathological genes, expression of therapeutic proteins, and programmed gene editing. Due to the inherent instability and negative-charges of RNA molecules, RNA-based therapeutics can make the most use of delivery systems to overcome biological barriers and to release the RNA payload into the cytosol. Among different types of delivery systems, lipid-based RNA delivery systems, particularly lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), have been extensively studied due to their unique properties, such as simple chemical synthesis of lipid components, scalable manufacturing processes of LNPs, and wide packaging capability. LNPs represent the most widely used delivery systems for RNA-based therapeutics, as evidenced by the clinical approvals of three LNP-RNA formulations, patisiran, BNT162b2, and mRNA-1273. This review covers recent advances of lipids, lipid derivatives, and lipid-derived macromolecules used in RNA delivery over the past several decades. We focus mainly on their chemical structures, synthetic routes, characterization, formulation methods, and structure-activity relationships. We also briefly describe the current status of representative preclinical studies and clinical trials and highlight future opportunities and challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuebao Zhang
- Division of Pharmaceutics & Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, United States
| | - Changzhen Sun
- Division of Pharmaceutics & Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, United States
| | - Chang Wang
- Division of Pharmaceutics & Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, United States
| | - Katarina E Jankovic
- Division of Pharmaceutics & Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, United States
| | - Yizhou Dong
- Division of Pharmaceutics & Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Center for Clinical and Translational Science, The Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dorothy M. Davis Heart & Lung Research Institute, Department of Radiation Oncology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, United States
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2
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Abstract
A growing theme in chemistry is the joining of multiple organic molecular building blocks to create functional molecules. Diverse derivatizable structures—here termed “scaffolds” comprised of “hubs”—provide the foundation for systematic covalent organization of a rich variety of building blocks. This review encompasses 30 tri- or tetra-armed molecular hubs (e.g., triazine, lysine, arenes, dyes) that are used directly or in combination to give linear, cyclic, or branched scaffolds. Each scaffold is categorized by graph theory into one of 31 trees to express the molecular connectivity and overall architecture. Rational chemistry with exacting numbers of derivatizable sites is emphasized. The incorporation of water-solubilization motifs, robust or self-immolative linkers, enzymatically cleavable groups and functional appendages affords immense (and often late-stage) diversification of the scaffolds. Altogether, 107 target molecules are reviewed along with 19 syntheses to illustrate the distinctive chemistries for creating and derivatizing scaffolds. The review covers the history of the field up through 2020, briefly touching on statistically derivatized carriers employed in immunology as counterpoints to the rationally assembled and derivatized scaffolds here, although most citations are from the past two decades. The scaffolds are used widely in fields ranging from pure chemistry to artificial photosynthesis and biomedical sciences.
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3
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Skwarecki AS, Nowak MG, Milewska MJ. Synthetic strategies in construction of organic low molecular-weight carrier-drug conjugates. Bioorg Chem 2020; 104:104311. [PMID: 33142423 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2020.104311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2020] [Revised: 08/31/2020] [Accepted: 09/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Inefficient transportation of polar metabolic inhibitors through cell membranes of eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells precludes their direct use as drug candidates in chemotherapy. One of the possible solutions to this problem is application of the 'Trojan horse' strategy, i.e. conjugation of an active substance with a molecular carrier of organic or inorganic nature, facilitating membrane penetration. In this work, the synthetic strategies used in rational design and preparation of conjugates of bioactive agents with three types of organic low molecular-weight carriers have been reviewed. These include iron-chelating agents, siderophores and cell-penetrating peptides. Moreover, a less known but very promising "molecular umbrella" conjugation strategy has been presented. Special attention has been paid on appropriate linking strategies, especially these allowing intracellular drug release after internalisation of a conjugate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrzej S Skwarecki
- Department of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biochemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, 11/12 Gabriela Narutowicza Street, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland.
| | - Michał G Nowak
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, 11/12 Gabriela Narutowicza Street, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
| | - Maria J Milewska
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, 11/12 Gabriela Narutowicza Street, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
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4
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Sheng R, Wang Z, Luo T, Cao A, Sun J, Kinsella JM. Skeleton-Controlled pDNA Delivery of Renewable Steroid-Based Cationic Lipids, the Endocytosis Pathway Analysis and Intracellular Localization. Int J Mol Sci 2018; 19:ijms19020369. [PMID: 29373505 PMCID: PMC5855591 DOI: 10.3390/ijms19020369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2017] [Revised: 01/11/2018] [Accepted: 01/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Using renewable and biocompatible natural-based resources to construct functional biomaterials has attracted great attention in recent years. In this work, we successfully prepared a series of steroid-based cationic lipids by integrating various steroid skeletons/hydrophobes with (l-)-arginine headgroups via facile and efficient synthetic approach. The plasmid DNA (pDNA) binding affinity of the steroid-based cationic lipids, average particle sizes, surface potentials, morphologies and stability of the steroid-based cationic lipids/pDNA lipoplexes were disclosed to depend largely on the steroid skeletons. Cellular evaluation results revealed that cytotoxicity and gene transfection efficiency of the steroid-based cationic lipids in H1299 and HeLa cells strongly relied on the steroid hydrophobes. Interestingly, the steroid lipids/pDNA lipoplexes inclined to enter H1299 cells mainly through caveolae and lipid-raft mediated endocytosis pathways, and an intracellular trafficking route of “lipid-raft-mediated endocytosis→lysosome→cell nucleic localization” was accordingly proposed. The study provided possible approach for developing high-performance steroid-based lipid gene carriers, in which the cytotoxicity, gene transfection capability, endocytosis pathways, and intracellular trafficking/localization manners could be tuned/controlled by introducing proper steroid skeletons/hydrophobes. Noteworthy, among the lipids, Cho-Arg showed remarkably high gene transfection efficacy, even under high serum concentration (50% fetal bovine serum), making it an efficient gene transfection agent for practical application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruilong Sheng
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Self-Assembly Chemistry for Organic Functional Molecules, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lingling Road 345, Shanghai 200032, China.
- Department of Bioengineering, McGill University, 817 Sherbrook Street, Montréal, QC H3A0C3, Canada.
- CQM-Centro de Química da Madeira, Universidade da Madeira, Campus da Penteada, 9000-390 Funchal, Portugal.
| | - Zhao Wang
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Self-Assembly Chemistry for Organic Functional Molecules, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lingling Road 345, Shanghai 200032, China.
| | - Ting Luo
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Self-Assembly Chemistry for Organic Functional Molecules, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lingling Road 345, Shanghai 200032, China.
| | - Amin Cao
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Self-Assembly Chemistry for Organic Functional Molecules, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lingling Road 345, Shanghai 200032, China.
| | - Jingjing Sun
- Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Self-Assembly Chemistry for Organic Functional Molecules, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lingling Road 345, Shanghai 200032, China.
| | - Joseph M Kinsella
- Department of Bioengineering, McGill University, 817 Sherbrook Street, Montréal, QC H3A0C3, Canada.
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5
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Zhang M, Levaray N, Daniel JR, Waldron KC, Zhu X. Cholic acid dimers as invertible amphiphilic pockets: synthesis, molecular modeling, and inclusion studies. CAN J CHEM 2017. [DOI: 10.1139/cjc-2016-0621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Two dimers of cholic acid were synthesized through simple covalent linkers. The dimers form invertible molecular pockets in media of different polarity; hydrophobic pockets are formed in water and hydrophilic pockets are formed in organic media. Fluorescence studies show that pockets formed by these dimers can serve as invertible hosts for the hydrophobic guest pyrene and the hydrophilic guest coumarin 343. The molecular pocket also enhances dissolution of the weakly soluble cresol red sodium salt in organic media. Molecular modeling was performed to better understand the host–guest complexation process of the invertible amphiphilic pockets. The calculated free energy changes indicate that the two dimers form the most stable complexes with coumarin 343 at a host to guest ratio of 2:2, whereas the host to guest ratio differs in the formation of complexes with pyrene for the two dimers. The dimer with the shorter, less flexible linker seems to form host–guest complexes that are more stable in both water and organic solvents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meng Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
- Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
| | - Nicolas Levaray
- Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
- Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
| | - Josée R. Daniel
- Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
- Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
| | - Karen C. Waldron
- Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
- Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
| | - X.X. Zhu
- Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
- Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7, Canada
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6
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Abstract
Herein, we report the synthesis of an umbrella thread and its covalent dimer and their transmembrane transport properties under physiological conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Kempf
- Département de Chimie
- Université de Montréal
- Montréal
- Canada
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7
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Janout V, Bienvenu C, Schell W, Perfect JR, Regen SL. Molecular umbrella-amphotericin B conjugates. Bioconjug Chem 2014; 25:1408-11. [PMID: 25068916 PMCID: PMC4140546 DOI: 10.1021/bc500277v] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
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A tetrawalled
and an octawalled molecular umbrella conjugate of
amphotericin B (AmB) have been synthesized. Both conjugates exhibit
high water solubility, a low tendency to aggregate, negligible hemolytic
activity at 100 μM, and an ability to release a derivative of
AmB under reducing conditions that exhibits high antifungal activity.
Whereas the larger, octawalled conjugate shows slight adsorption to
liposomal membranes and an ability to cross them by passive transport,
the tetrawalled analogue shows significant adsorption and much lower
bilayer transport activity. The potential of molecular umbrella–AmB
conjugates as therapeutic agents is briefly discussed. Please provide a synopsis
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Affiliation(s)
- Vaclav Janout
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University , Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
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8
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Carrette LLG, Morii T, Madder A. Peptidosteroid Tweezers Revisited: DNA Binding Through an Optimised Design. European J Org Chem 2014. [DOI: 10.1002/ejoc.201301854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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Janout V, Cline LL, Feuston BP, Klein L, O'Brien A, Tucker T, Yuan Y, O'Neill-Davis LA, Peiffer RL, Nerurkar SS, Jadhav V, Tellers DM, Regen SL. Molecular umbrella conjugate for the ocular delivery of siRNA. Bioconjug Chem 2014; 25:197-201. [PMID: 24433067 PMCID: PMC4334295 DOI: 10.1021/bc400506m] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
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The synthesis, computer modeling,
and biological activity of an
octawalled molecular umbrella short interfacing RNA (siRNA) conjugate
is described. This molecular umbrella–siRNA conjugate exhibited
mRNA knockdown activity in vitro in the absence of
a transfection reagent. Evaluation of this molecular umbrella conjugate in vivo, using the rat eye via intravitreal injection, resulted
in sequence specific mRNA knockdown in the retina
with no obvious signs of toxicity, as judged by ophthalmic examination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vaclav Janout
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University , Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015, United States
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10
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Sheng R, Luo T, Li H, Sun J, Wang Z, Cao A. 'Click' synthesized sterol-based cationic lipids as gene carriers, and the effect of skeletons and headgroups on gene delivery. Bioorg Med Chem 2013; 21:6366-77. [PMID: 24063908 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2013.08.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2013] [Revised: 08/15/2013] [Accepted: 08/24/2013] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
In this work, we have successfully prepared a series of new sterol-based cationic lipids (1-4) via an efficient 'Click' chemistry approach. The pDNA binding affinity of these lipids was examined by EB displacement and agarose-gel retardant assay. The average particle sizes and surface charges of the sterol-based cationic lipids/pDNA lipoplexes were analyzed by dynamic laser light scattering instrument (DLS), and the morphologies of the lipoplexes were observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The cytotoxicity of the lipids were examined by MTT and LDH assay, and the gene transfection efficiencies of these lipid carriers were investigated by luciferase gene transfection assay in various cell lines. In addition, the intracellular uptake and trafficking/localization behavior of the Cy3-DNA loaded lipoplexes were preliminarily studied by fluorescence microscopy. The results demonstrated that the pDNA loading capacity, lipoplex particle size, zeta potential and morphology of the sterol lipids/pDNA lipoplexes depended largely on the molecular structure factors including sterol-skeletons and headgroups. Furthermore, the sterol-based lipids showed quite different cytotoxicity and gene transfection efficacy in A549 and HeLa cells. Interestingly, it was found that the cholesterol-bearing lipids 1 and 2 showed 7-10(4) times higher transfection capability than their lithocholate-bearing counterparts 3 and 4 in A549 and HeLa cell lines, suggested that the gene transfection capacity strongly relied on the structure of sterol skeletons. Moreover, the study on the structure-activity relationships of these sterol-based cationic lipid gene carriers provided a possible approach for developing low cytotoxic and high efficient lipid gene carriers by selecting suitable sterol hydrophobes and cationic headgroups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruilong Sheng
- Laboratory for Polymer Materials, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Road, Shanghai 200032, China
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11
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Shiraishi T, Nielsen PE. Nanomolar cellular antisense activity of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) cholic acid ("umbrella") and cholesterol conjugates delivered by cationic lipids. Bioconjug Chem 2012; 23:196-202. [PMID: 22243634 DOI: 10.1021/bc200460t] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Limited cellular uptake and low bioavailability of peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) have restricted widespread use of PNAs as antisense/antigene agents for cells in culture and not least for in vivo applications. We now report the synthesis and cellular antisense activity in cultured HeLa pLuc705 cells of cholesterol and cholic acid ("umbrella") derivatives of splice correction antisense PNA oligomers. While the conjugates alone were practically inactive up to 1 μM, their activity was dramatically improved when delivered by a cationic lipid transfection agent (LipofectAMINE2000). In particular, PNAs, conjugated to cholesterol through an ester hemisuccinate linker or to cholic acid, exhibited low nanomolar activity (EC(50) ∼ 25 nM). Excellent sequence specificity was retained, as mismatch PNA conjugates did not show any significant antisense activity. Furthermore, we show that increasing the transfection volume improved transfection efficiency, suggesting that accumulation (condensation) of the PNA/lipid complex on the cellular surface is part of the uptake mechanism. These results provide a novel, simple method for very efficient cellular delivery of PNA oligomers, especially using PNA-cholic acid conjugates which, in contrast to PNA-cholesterol conjugates, exhibit sufficient water solubility. The results also question the generality of using cholic acid "umbrella" derivatives as a delivery modality for antisense oligomers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takehiko Shiraishi
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen N, Denmark.
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12
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Verzele D, Figaroli S, Madder A. Shortcut access to peptidosteroid conjugates: building blocks for solid-phase bile acid scaffold decoration by convergent ligation. Molecules 2011; 16:10168-86. [PMID: 22157580 PMCID: PMC6264362 DOI: 10.3390/molecules161210168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2011] [Accepted: 11/30/2011] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
We present three versatile solid-supported scaffold building blocks based on the (deoxy)cholic acid framework and decorated with handles for further derivatization by modern ligation techniques such as click chemistry, Staudinger ligation or native chemical ligation. Straightforward procedures are presented for the synthesis and analysis of the steroid constructs. These building blocks offer a new, facile and shorter access route to bile acid-peptide conjugates on solid-phase with emphasis on heterodipodal conjugates with defined spatial arrangements. As such, we provide versatile new synthons to the toolbox for bile acid decoration.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Annemieke Madder
- Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; ; Tel.: +32-9-264-4472; Fax: +32-9-264-4998
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