Testing the In Vitro and In Vivo Efficiency of mRNA-Lipid Nanoparticles Formulated by Microfluidic Mixing

Feb 6, 2023Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE

Testing how well mRNA lipid nanoparticles work in lab tests and living systems

AI simplified

mRNA Technology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

Lipid nanoparticles encapsulating mRNA achieved measurable transfection efficiency in HepG2 cells and demonstrated bioluminescence in C57BL/6 mice.

Lipid nanoparticles serve as delivery platforms that protect mRNA from degradation and facilitate its delivery into cells.
The formulation of mRNA-lipid nanoparticles was achieved through microfluidic mixing of lipid components and mRNA.
In vitro tests showed that these mRNA-lipid nanoparticles effectively transfected HepG2 cells.
In vivo testing demonstrated detectable whole-body bioluminescence in mice following intravenous injection of the mRNA-lipid nanoparticles.
Results indicate the potential of mRNA-lipid nanoparticles as a delivery system for therapeutic applications.

AI simplified

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have attracted widespread attention recently with the successful development of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech. These vaccines have demonstrated the efficacy of mRNA-LNP therapeutics and opened the door for future clinical applications. In mRNA-LNP systems, the LNPs serve as delivery platforms that protect the mRNA cargo from degradation by nucleases and mediate their intracellular delivery. The LNPs are typically composed of four components: an ionizable lipid, a phospholipid, cholesterol, and a lipid-anchored polyethylene glycol (PEG) conjugate (lipid-PEG). Here, LNPs encapsulating mRNA encoding firefly luciferase are formulated by microfluidic mixing of the organic phase containing LNP lipid components and the aqueous phase containing mRNA. These mRNA-LNPs are then tested in vitro to evaluate their transfection efficiency in HepG2 cells using a bioluminescent plate-based assay. Additionally, mRNA-LNPs are evaluated in vivo in C57BL/6 mice following an intravenous injection via the lateral tail vein. Whole-body bioluminescence imaging is performed by using an in vivo imaging system. Representative results are shown for the mRNA-LNP characteristics, their transfection efficiency in HepG2 cells, and the total luminescent flux in C57BL/6 mice.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View full text ↗

Testing the In Vitro and In Vivo Efficiency of mRNA-Lipid Nanoparticles Formulated by Microfluidic Mixing

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the mrna technology brief

Abstract

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the mrna technology brief