Tumor‐Tailored Ionizable Lipid Nanoparticles Facilitate IL‐12 Circular RNA Delivery for Enhanced Lung Cancer Immunotherapy

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 36; no. 29; pp. e2400307 - n/a
• Main Authors: Xu, Shufen, Xu, Yue, Solek, Nicholas C., Chen, Jingan, Gong, Fanglin, Varley, Andrew James, Golubovic, Alex, Pan, Anni, Dong, Songtao, Zheng, Gang, Li, Bowen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-07-2024
• Subjects: Animals; cancer immunotherapy; Cell Line, Tumor; Combinatorial analysis; Gene expression; Humans; Immune system; Immunology; Immunotherapy; Immunotherapy - methods; Interleukin-12 - genetics; Interleukin-12 - metabolism; ionizable lipid; lipid nanoparticles; Lipids; Lipids - chemistry; Lung cancer; Lung Neoplasms - therapy; Lymphocytes; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Nanoparticles; Nanoparticles - chemistry; nucleic acid delivery; Payloads; Regression models; RNA - chemistry; RNA, Circular - genetics; Tumors; ionizable lipid; lipid nanoparticles; nucleic acid delivery; cancer immunotherapy
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202400307

The advancement of message RNA (mRNA) ‐based immunotherapies for cancer is highly dependent on the effective delivery of RNA (Ribonucleic) payloads using ionizable lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). However, the clinical application of these therapies is hindered by variable mRNA expression among different cancer types and the risk of systemic toxicity. The transient expression profile of mRNA further complicates this issue, necessitating frequent dosing and thus increasing the potential for adverse effects. Addressing these challenges, a high‐throughput combinatorial method is utilized to synthesize and screen LNPs that efficiently deliver circular RNA (circRNA) to lung tumors. The lead LNP, H1L1A1B3, demonstrates a fourfold increase in circRNA transfection efficiency in lung cancer cells over ALC‐0315, the industry‐standard LNPs, while providing potent immune activation. A single intratumoral injection of H1L1A1B3 LNPs, loaded with circRNA encoding interleukin‐12 (IL‐12), induces a robust immune response in a Lewis lung carcinoma model, leading to marked tumor regression. Immunological profiling of treated tumors reveals substantial increments in CD45+ leukocytes and enhances infiltration of CD8+ T cells, underscoring the ability of H1L1A1B3 LNPs to modulate the tumor microenvironment favorably. These results highlight the potential of tailored LNP platforms to advance RNA drug delivery for cancer therapy, broadening the prospects for RNA immunotherapeutics.
This study develops a new lipid nanoparticle (LNP) that efficiently delivers circular RNA to lung tumors. The LNP shows better circRNA delivery efficiency than the benchmark. A single dose of this interleukin‐12 circRNA‐LNP induces robust anti‐tumor immunity and tumor regression in two lung cancer models. This tailored LNP platform holds promise for advancing RNA immunotherapies against lung cancer.