Nat Commun: A novel mRNA liposome transport technology

Transporting effective therapeutic drugs to specific targeted cells with minimal side effects has long been considered the 'holy grail' in the field of medical research; Recently, an article was published in a magazineNature CommunicationsIn the research report, scientists from Tel Aviv University have developed a new method that can directly transport nanocarriers loaded with special proteins to specific cells. The related research results may help scientists develop new therapies for treating various malignant tumors, inflammatory diseases, and rare genetic diseases.

Image source: Nuphar Veiga/American Friends of Tel Aviv University

In the past few decades, lipid carriers including mRNAs have been believed to effectively alter protein expression in many diseases, but directly delivering this information to specific cells remains a major challenge for researchers; Researcher Professor Peer pointed out that in this study, we used mRNA loaded vectors to target the genetic instructions of anti-inflammatory proteins in immune cells. This vector can carry a series of genetic instructions through a biological platform called ASSET. The researchers stated that targeting selective anti-inflammatory proteins in cells can reduce disease symptoms and severity in patients with enteritis.

The significance of this research is revolutionary, as it lays the foundation for introducing mRNA instructions that can encode any protein missing in cells, making it promising for the treatment of various diseases such as inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, genetic diseases, and even cancer. This ASSET (Anchored Secondary scFv Enabling Targeting) platform can utilize a biological approach to directly transport nanocarriers to specific cells to facilitate gene manipulation. Researcher Veiga stated that this study has opened up new pathways for cell specific mRNA molecule transport, and ultimately we may be able to introduce specific anti-inflammatory mRNA molecules (interleukin-10) as a novel therapy for treating inflammatory bowel disease.

Later researchers suggested that protein production targeting mRNA may have important therapeutic and research application value. In the future, researchers hope to investigate the therapeutic potential of novel therapies in treating inflammatory diseases, cancer, and rare genetic diseases through in-depth research using targeted mRNA transport strategies. (Biological Valley)

Original source:

Nuphar Veiga, Meir Goldsmith, Yasmin Granot, et al.Cell specific delivery of modified mRNA expressing therapeutic proteins to leukocytes.Nature Communicationsvolume 9, Article number: 4493 (2018) doi:10.1038/s41467-018-06936-1