Therapeutic RNA Delivery for COVID and Other Diseases

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Curtis Dobrowolski, Georgia Institute of Technology; Kalina Paunovska, Georgia Institute of Technology; Marine ZC Hatit, Georgia Institute of Technology; Melissa P Lokugamage, Georgia Institute of Technology; James Dahlman, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-03-04
• Publisher: WILEY
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2021 Wiley‐VCH GmbH
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/adhm.202002022
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: ADVANCED HEALTHCARE MATERIALS
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 15
• Start Page: e2002022
• End Page: e2002022
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health (R01‐GM132985 and UG3‐TR002855, awarded to J.E.D.)
• Keywords: Materials Science; Science & Technology - Other Topics; Engineering; Materials Science, Biomaterials; Nanoscience & Nanotechnology; Engineering, Biomedical; COVID; vaccine; Technology; RNA therapy; LNP; Science & Technology; in vivo delivery
• Research Categories: Engineering, Biomedical

Abstract

RNA can alter the expression of endogenous genes and can be used to express therapeutic proteins. As a result, RNA-based therapies have recently mitigated disease in patients. Yet most potential RNA therapies cannot currently be developed, in large part because delivering therapeutic quantities of RNA drugs to diseased cells remains difficult. Here, recent studies focused on the biological hurdles that make in vivo drug delivery challenging are described. Then RNA drugs that have overcome these challenges in humans, focusing on siRNA to treat liver disease and mRNA to vaccinate against COVID, are discussed. Finally, research centered on improving drug delivery to new tissues is highlighted, including the development of high-throughput in vivo nanoparticle DNA barcoding assays capable of testing over 100 distinct nanoparticles in a single animal.