Department of Bioengineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Commun Biol. 2021 Aug 11;4(1):956. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02441-2.
Lipid Nanoparticles (LNPs) are used to deliver siRNA and COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. The main factor known to determine their delivery efficiency is the pKa of the LNP containing an ionizable lipid. Herein, we report a method that can predict the LNP pKa from the structure of the ionizable lipid. We used theoretical, NMR, fluorescent-dye binding, and electrophoretic mobility methods to comprehensively measure protonation of both the ionizable lipid and the formulated LNP. The pKa of the ionizable lipid was 2-3 units higher than the pKa of the LNP primarily due to proton solvation energy differences between the LNP and aqueous medium. We exploited these results to explain a wide range of delivery efficiencies in vitro and in vivo for intramuscular (IM) and intravascular (IV) administration of different ionizable lipids at escalating ionizable lipid-to-mRNA ratios in the LNP. In addition, we determined that more negatively charged LNPs exhibit higher off-target systemic expression of mRNA in the liver following IM administration. This undesirable systemic off-target expression of mRNA-LNP vaccines could be minimized through appropriate design of the ionizable lipid and LNP.
脂质纳米颗粒(LNPs)被用于递送 siRNA 和 COVID-19 mRNA 疫苗。已知决定其递送效率的主要因素是包含可离子化脂质的 LNP 的 pKa。在此,我们报告了一种可以从可离子化脂质的结构预测 LNP pKa 的方法。我们使用理论、NMR、荧光染料结合和电泳迁移率方法来全面测量可离子化脂质和配方 LNP 的质子化。可离子化脂质的 pKa 比 LNP 的 pKa 高 2-3 个单位,主要是由于 LNP 和水介质之间质子溶剂化能的差异。我们利用这些结果来解释不同可离子化脂质在 LNP 中以递增的可离子化脂质与 mRNA 比进行肌内(IM)和血管内(IV)给药时,体外和体内的广泛递送效率。此外,我们确定在 IM 给药后,带更多负电荷的 LNPs 会导致 mRNA 在肝脏中的非靶向性系统表达增加。通过适当设计可离子化脂质和 LNP,可以最小化 mRNA-LNP 疫苗这种不理想的非靶向性系统 mRNA 表达。
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