A scalable and robust cationic lipid/polymer hybrid nanoparticle platform for mRNA delivery

mRNA based gene therapies hold the potential to treat multiple diseases with significant advantages over DNA based therapies, including rapid protein expression and minimized risk of mutagenesis. However, successful delivery of mRNA remains challenging, and clinical translation of mRNA therapeutics has been limited. This study investigated the use of a lipid/polymer hybrid (LPH) nanocarrier for mRNA, designed to address key delivery challenges and shuttle mRNA to targeted tissues. LPH nanocarriers were synthesized using a scalable microfluidic process with a variety of material compositions and mRNA loading strategies. Results show that a combination of permanently ionized and transiently, pH-dependent ionizable cationic lipids had a synergistic effect upon on mRNA gene translation, when compared to each lipid independently. Upon intravenous administration, particles with adsorbed mRNA outperformed particles with encapsulated mRNA for protein expression in the lungs and the spleen despite significant LPH nanoparticle localization to the liver. In contrast, encapsulated particles had higher localized expression when injected intramuscularly with protein expression detectable out to 12 days post injection. Intramuscular administration of particles with OVA mRNA resulted in robust humoral immune response with encapsulated outperforming adsorbed particles in terms of antibody titers at 28 days. These results demonstrate LPH nanocarriers have great potential as a vehicle for mRNA delivery and expression in tissues and that tissue expression and longevity can be influenced by LPH composition and route of administration.