The Future of Tissue-Targeted Lipid Nanoparticle-Mediated Nucleic Acid Delivery

Abstract

The earliest example of in vivo expression of exogenous mRNA is by direct intramuscular injection in mice without the aid of a delivery vehicle. The current state of the art for therapeutic nucleic acid delivery is lipid nanoparticles (LNP), which are composed of cholesterol, a helper lipid, a PEGylated lipid and an ionizable amine-containing lipid. The liver is the primary organ of LNP accumulation following intravenous administration and is also observed to varying degrees following intramuscular and subcutaneous routes. Delivery of nucleic acid to hepatocytes by LNP has therapeutic potential, but there are many disease indications that would benefit from non-hepatic LNP tissue and cell population targeting, such as cancer, and neurological, cardiovascular and infectious diseases. This review will concentrate on the current efforts to develop the next generation of tissue-targeted LNP constructs for therapeutic nucleic acids.