Messenger RNA (mRNA) has shown therapeutic potential in a range of applications, including viral vaccines, cancer immunotherapies, protein replacement therapies, cellular reprogramming and genome editing. However, targeted delivery and endosomal escape remain challenging for mRNA delivery systems.
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) offer significant advantages over existing methods, including increased drug stability, improved delivery, and targeted distribution. For these reasons, LNPs have great potential to revolutionize the development of new therapeutics beyond infectious disease as a delivery system of small molecules, siRNA drugs and mRNA.
How do lipid-based drug delivery systems work?
The composition of liposomes and LNPs make them ideal for delivery. Liposomes composed of a phospholipid bilayer intercalated with sterols, to influence membrane structure, and other ligands or polymers to improve targeting and stability. Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), on the other hand, include ionisable cationic lipids, which makes them useful for nucleic acid delivery.
