Liu Jinyu, Zhang Yanhao, Liu Chao, Jiang Yuhao, Wang Zihao, Guo Zongke, Li Xinsong
School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, PR China.
Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, PR China.
J Control Release. 2024 Sep;373:319-335. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2024.07.018. Epub 2024 Jul 20.
Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU), which is characterised by damage to minute blood vessels or capillaries around wounds, is one of the most serious and dreaded complications of diabetes. It is challenging to repair chronic non-healing DFU wounds. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays an important role in angiogenesis and promotes wound healing in DFU. However, it is difficult to sustainably deliver VEGF to the wound site owing to its poor stability and easy degradation. To overcome this challenge, lipid nanoparticles (LNP) encapsulating circular RNA (circRNA) encoding VEGF-A have been developed to continuously generate and release VEGF-A and accelerate diabetic wound healing. First, VEGF-A circRNA was synthesized using group I intron autocatalysis strategy and confirmed by enzyme digestion, polymerase chain reaction, and sequencing assay. VEGF-A circRNA was encapsulated in ionizable lipid U-105-derived LNP (U-LNP) using microfluidic technology to fabricate U-LNP/VEGF-A circRNA. For comparison, a commercially ionizable lipid ALC-0315-derived LNP (A-LNP) encapsulating circRNA (A-LNP/circRNA) was used. Dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy characterization indicated that U-LNP/circRNA had spherical structure with an average diameter of 108.5 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.22, and a zeta potential of -3.31 mV. The messenger RNA (mRNA) encapsulation efficiency (EE%) of U-LNP was 87.12%. In vitro transfection data confirmed better stability and long-term VEGF-A expression of circRNA compared with linear mRNA. Assessment of cytotoxicity and innate immunity further revealed that U-LNP/circRNA was biocompatible and induced a weak congenital immune response. Cell scratch and angiogenesis tests demonstrated the bioactivity of U-LNP/VEGF-A circRNA owing to its VEGF-A expression. In situ bioluminescence imaging of firefly luciferase (F-Luc) probe and ELISA demonstrated that circRNA had long-term and strong expression of VEGF-A in the first week, and a gradual decrease in the next week at the wound site and surrounding areas. Finally, a diabetic mouse model was used to validate the healing effect of U-LNP/VEGF-A circRNA formulation. The results showed that a single dose of U-LNP/VEGF-A circRNA administered by dripping resulted in almost complete wound recovery on day 12, which was significantly superior to that of U-LNP/VEGF-A linear mRNA, and it also outperformed recombinant human vascular endothelial growth factor (rhVEGF) injection and A-LNP/circRNA dripping. Histological analysis confirmed the healing efficiency and low toxicity of U-LNP/VEGF-A circRNA formulation. Together, VEGF-A circRNA delivered by U-105-derived LNP showed good performance in wound healing, which was ascribed to the long-term expression and continuous release of VEGF-A, and has potential applications for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcer wounds.
糖尿病足溃疡(DFU)以伤口周围微小血管或毛细血管受损为特征,是糖尿病最严重且令人恐惧的并发症之一。修复慢性不愈合的DFU伤口具有挑战性。血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)在血管生成中起重要作用,并促进DFU伤口愈合。然而,由于其稳定性差且易降解,难以将VEGF持续递送至伤口部位。为克服这一挑战,已开发出包裹编码VEGF-A的环状RNA(circRNA)的脂质纳米颗粒(LNP),以持续产生和释放VEGF-A并加速糖尿病伤口愈合。首先,使用I组内含子自催化策略合成VEGF-A circRNA,并通过酶切、聚合酶链反应和测序分析进行确认。采用微流控技术将VEGF-A circRNA包裹在可电离脂质U-105衍生的LNP(U-LNP)中,制备U-LNP/VEGF-A circRNA。作为对照,使用了包裹circRNA的市售可电离脂质ALC-0315衍生的LNP(A-LNP)(A-LNP/circRNA)。动态光散射和透射电子显微镜表征表明,U-LNP/circRNA具有球形结构,平均直径为108.5 nm,多分散指数为0.22,ζ电位为-3.31 mV。U-LNP的信使核糖核酸(mRNA)包封率(EE%)为87.12%。体外转染数据证实,与线性mRNA相比,circRNA具有更好的稳定性和长期VEGF-A表达。细胞毒性和固有免疫评估进一步表明,U-LNP/circRNA具有生物相容性,并诱导较弱的先天性免疫反应。细胞划痕和血管生成试验证明了U-LNP/VEGF-A circRNA因其VEGF-A表达而具有生物活性。萤火虫荧光素酶(F-Luc)探针的原位生物发光成像和酶联免疫吸附测定(ELISA)表明,circRNA在伤口部位及周围区域在第一周具有VEGF-A的长期且强烈表达,而在第二周逐渐下降。最后,使用糖尿病小鼠模型验证U-LNP/VEGF-A circRNA制剂的愈合效果。结果显示,通过滴注给予单剂量的U-LNP/VEGF-A circRNA可在第12天使伤口几乎完全愈合,这明显优于U-LNP/VEGF-A线性mRNA,并且也优于重组人血管内皮生长因子(rhVEGF)注射和A-LNP/circRNA滴注。组织学分析证实了U-LNP/VEGF-A circRNA制剂的愈合效率和低毒性。总之,由U-105衍生的LNP递送的VEGF-A circRNA在伤口愈合方面表现良好,这归因于VEGF-A的长期表达和持续释放,并且在治疗糖尿病足溃疡伤口方面具有潜在应用价值。
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