Combined organ-specific mRNA and lipid nanoparticle therapy may repair damaged lungs

A combination of mRNA and new lipid nanoparticles could help heal damaged lungs, according to a new study from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Viruses, physical trauma, or other issues can have serious effects on the lungs, and traditional treatments like inhaled medications may not work if the injury is at the bottom. Published in Nature Communications, this study provides a proof of concept for injectable therapy.

“The lungs are difficult to treat, because both permanent and temporary damage often occur in deep areas where drug therapy is not easily reachable.” Illness of scientists at Penn and Penn Institute for RNA Innovation . “Even drugs delivered intravenously spread without specificity. It makes a targeted approach like ours especially valuable.”

Lung damage can result from a variety of causes, ranging from physical accidents that cause lung inflammation to respiratory viruses such as covid, flu and RSV. Viruses alone can lead to inflammatory responses that cause fluid accumulation in the airways, excess mucus, cell death, and damage to the lining of the lungs. Whether acute or chronic, weakened lungs can be life-threatening. Previous studies have shown that respiratory illness was the third leading cause of death worldwide, even before the pandemic.

New lipid nanoparticles

The life-saving mRNA covid vaccine used unique lipid nanoparticles as an mRNA delivery system. The method of this study coincides with a single lipid nanoparticle (IAJDS), which originates from one unique lipid nanoparticle, i.e. natural material, discovered by Virgil Percec, professor of chemistry at the university. I did. of Pennsylvania.

PENN Percec, Atochina-Vasserman, and other previous studies have found that these IAJDs are organ-specific. Upon reaching the lungs, mRNA instructs the immune system to create transformation growth factor beta (TGF-B), a signaling molecule essential for the body to repair tissue.

“This study illustrates the birth of a new mRNA distribution platform with unique strengths and potential beyond the original mRNA LNP,” said the 2023 Nobel Prize winner, who co-authored the study, the Roberts family. co-authors of Dr. Drew Weissman, professor of vaccine research and director of Penn Institute for RNA Innovation.

“The use of other lipid nanoparticles works well to prevent infections, but in addition to being inherent to the lungs, this new platform does not have to be stored at such extremely cold temperatures. , it’s even easier to generate.

“The study focused on the lungs, but this method has also been investigated for treatments for other organs,” Percec said. Atochina-Vasserman, Weissman, and colleagues have attempted a similar approach to infections that occur in the spleen.