Delivery of self-amplifying mRNA vaccines by cationic lipid nanoparticles: The impact of cationic lipid selection.

Self-amplifying RNA (SAM) represents a versatile tool that can be used to develop potent vaccines, potentially able to elicit strong antigen-specific humoral and cellular-mediated immune responses to virtually any infectious disease. To protect the SAM from degradation and achieve efficient delivery, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), particularly those based on ionizable amino-lipids, are commonly adopted. Herein, we compared commonly available cationic lipids, which have been broadly used in clinical investigations, as an alternative to ionizable lipids. To this end, a SAM vaccine encoding the rabies virus glycoprotein (RVG) was used. The cationic lipids investigated included 3ß-[N-(N',N'-dimethylaminoethane)-carbamoyl]cholesterol (DC-Chol), dimethyldioctadecylammonium (DDA), 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP), 1,2-dimyristoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DMTAP), 1,2-stearoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DSTAP) and N-(4-carboxybenzyl)-N,N-dimethyl-2,3-bis(oleoyloxy)propan-1-aminium (DOBAQ). Whilst all cationic LNP (cLNP) formulations promoted high association with cells in vitro, those formulations containing the fusogenic lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) in combination with DOTAP or DDA were the most efficient at inducing antigen expression. Therefore, DOTAP and DDA formulations were selected for further in vivo studies and were compared to benchmark ionizable LNPs (iLNPs). Biodistribution studies revealed that DDA-cLNPs remained longer at the injection site compared to DOTAP-cLNPs and iLNPs when administered intramuscularly in mice. Both the cLNP formulations and the iLNPs induced strong humoral and cellular-mediated immune responses in mice that were not significantly different at a 1.5 µg SAM dose. In summary, cLNPs based on DOTAP and DDA are an efficient alternative to iLNPs to deliver SAM vaccines.

Targeted axonal import (TAxI) peptide delivers functional proteins into spinal cord motor neurons after peripheral administration.

A significant unmet need in treating neurodegenerative disease is effective methods for delivery of biologic drugs, such as peptides, proteins, or nucleic acids into the central nervous system (CNS). To date, there are no operative technologies for the delivery of macromolecular drugs to the CNS via peripheral administration routes. Using an in vivo phage-display screen, we identify a peptide, targeted axonal import (TAxI), that enriched recombinant bacteriophage accumulation and delivered protein cargo into spinal cord motor neurons after intramuscular injection. In animals with transected peripheral nerve roots, TAxI delivery into motor neurons after peripheral administration was inhibited, suggesting a retrograde axonal transport mechanism for delivery into the CNS. Notably, TAxI-Cre recombinase fusion proteins induced selective recombination and tdTomato-reporter expression in motor neurons after intramuscular injections. Furthermore, TAxI peptide was shown to label motor neurons in the human tissue. The demonstration of a nonviral-mediated delivery of functional proteins into the spinal cord establishes the clinical potential of this technology for minimally invasive administration of CNS-targeted therapeutics.

Effect of polyplex morphology on cellular uptake, intracellular trafficking, and transgene expression.

Nanoparticle morphology has been shown to affect cellular uptake, but there are few studies investigating the impact of particle shape on biologic drug delivery. Recently, our group synthesized a series of N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide (HPMA)-oligolysine brush polymers for nucleic acid delivery that varied in oligolysine peptide length and polymer molecular weight. Interestingly, a 50% longer peptide (K15) transfected very poorly compared to the optimized polymer comprised of K10 peptide despite similar chemical composition and molecular weight. We hypothesized that differences in particle morphology contributed to the differences in plasmid DNA delivery. We found that particles formed with plasmid DNA and a polymer with the longer oligolysine peptide (pHK15) had larger aspect ratios than particles formed with optimized polymer (pHK10). Even though both formulations showed similar percentages of cellular association, particles of a higher aspect ratio were internalized to a lesser extent. Furthermore, the rod-like particles accumulated more in endosomal/lysosomal compartments, leading to delayed nuclear delivery. Other parameters, such as particle surface charge, unpackaging ability, uptake mechanism, intracellular trafficking, and the presence of heparan sulfate proteoglycans did not significantly differ between the two polymer formulations. These results indicate that, for this system, polyplex morphology primarily impacts nucleic acid delivery efficiency through differences in cellular internalization rates.

Optimization of Tet1 ligand density in HPMA-co-oligolysine copolymers for targeted neuronal gene delivery.

Targeted gene delivery vectors can enhance cellular specificity and transfection efficiency. We demonstrated previously that conjugation of Tet1, a peptide that binds to the GT1b ganglioside, to polyethylenimine results in preferential transfection of neural progenitor cells in vivo. In this work, we investigate the effect of Tet1 ligand density on gene delivery to neuron-like, differentiated PC-12 cells. A series of statistical, cationic peptide-based polymers containing various amounts (1-5 mol%) of Tet1 were synthesized via one-pot reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization by copolymerization of Tet1 and oligo-l-lysine macromonomers with N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA). When complexed with plasmid DNA, the resulting panel of Tet1-functionalized polymers formed particles with similar particle size as particles formed with untargeted HPMA-oligolysine copolymers. The highest cellular uptake in neuron-like differentiated PC-12 cells was observed using polymers with intermediate Tet1 peptide incorporation. Compared to untargeted polymers, polymers with optimal incorporation of Tet1 increased gene delivery to neuron-like PC-12 cells by over an order of magnitude but had no effect compared to control polymers in transfecting NIH/3T3 control cells.

Comparative study of guanidine-based and lysine-based brush copolymers for plasmid delivery.

Polyethylenimine (PEI), one of the most frequently used polycations for non-viral nucleic acid delivery, exhibits good transfection efficiency to cultured cells but generally has to be used in restricted concentration ranges due to high cytotoxicity. We recently reported a family of HPMA-co-oligolysine brush copolymers that show nucleic acid delivery efficiencies approaching that of PEI. Guanidine-containing polymers have been reported in some systems to be more effective at cellular delivery of cargo than their primary-amine analogs. The goal of this work is to investigate the effect of guanidinylation on gene transfer ability of HPMA-co-oligolysine copolymers. Several parameters were evaluated: arginine versus homoarginine monomers, oligopeptide length, and charge density within the peptide. Using reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, a series of six copolymers were synthesized containing the cationic peptides K10, R10, K5, and (GK)5. Lysine-containing copolymers were functionalized with guanidine by reaction with O-methylisourea to generate an additional five homoarginine-based copolymers. All eleven copolymers readily condensed DNA into small, < 150 nm polyplexes and remained stable in physiological salt conditions. The best performing copolymers provided more efficient gene transfection with less associated cytotoxicity than PEI. Reducing the number of charge centers (from 10 to 5) further reduced toxicity while retaining comparable transfection efficiency to PEI.

Influence of histidine incorporation on buffer capacity and gene transfection efficiency of HPMA-co-oligolysine brush polymers.

One of the major intracellular barriers to nonviral gene delivery is efficient endosomal escape. The incorporation of histidine residues into polymeric constructs has been found to increase endosomal escape via the proton sponge effect. Statistical and diblock copolymers of N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA), oligolysine, and oligohistidine were synthesized via reversible-addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and tested for in vitro transfection efficiency, buffering ability, and polyplex uptake mechanism via the use of chemical endocytic inhibitors. Interestingly, histidine-containing statistical and diblock polymers exhibited increased buffer capacity in different endosomal pH ranges. Statistical copolymers transfected better than block copolymers that contained similar amounts of histidine. In addition, only the polymer containing the highest incorporation of oligohistidine residues led to increases in transfection efficiency over the HPMA-oligolysine base polymer. Thus, for these polymer architectures, high histidine incorporation may be required for efficient endosomal escape. Furthermore, inhibitor studies indicate that nonacidified caveolae-mediated endocytosis may be the primary route of transfection for these copolymers, suggesting that alternative approaches for increasing endosomal escape may be beneficial for enhancing transfection efficiency with these HPMA-oligolysine copolymers.

Melittin-grafted HPMA-oligolysine based copolymers for gene delivery.

Non-viral gene delivery systems capable of transfecting cells in the brain are critical in realizing the potential impact of nucleic acid therapeutics for diseases of the central nervous system. In this study, the membrane-lytic peptide melittin was incorporated into block copolymers synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The first block, designed for melittin conjugation, was composed of N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) and pyridyl disulfide methacrylamide (PDSMA) and the second block, designed for DNA binding, was composed of oligo-l-lysine (K10) and HPMA. Melittin modified with cysteine at the C-terminus was conjugated to the polymers through the pyridyl disulfide pendent groups via disulfide exchange. The resulting pHgMelbHK10 copolymers are more membrane-lytic than melittin-free control polymers, and efficiently condensed plasmid DNA into salt-stable particles (~100-200 nm). The melittin-modified polymers transfected both HeLa and neuron-like PC-12 cells more efficiently than melittin-free polymers although toxicity associated with the melittin peptide was observed. Optimized formulations containing the luciferase reporter gene were delivered to mouse brain by intraventricular brain injections. Melittin-containing polyplexes produced about 35-fold higher luciferase activity in the brain compared to polyplexes without melittin. Thus, the melittin-containing block copolymers described in this work are promising materials for gene delivery to the brain.

Biological activity of anti-CD20 multivalent HPMA copolymer-Fab' conjugates.

High-molecular-weight, branched N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymers were synthesized and conjugated with Fab' fragments of the anti-CD20 antibody, 1F5. This produced multivalent conjugates with varying valency (amount of Fab' per macromolecule) targeted to the B-cell antigen CD20. The apoptotic activity of the conjugates was screened against several B-cell lymphomas with varied expression levels of CD20 (Raji, Daudi, Ramos, Namalwa, and DG-75). The multivalent conjugates had the strongest activity against cells that had the highest expression of CD20 and failed to demonstrate any measurable activity against lymphomas that did not express the antigen. Furthermore, there was an apparent dose-dependent response to treatment with multivalent conjugates. At optimal valence and concentration, the apoptotic activity of HPMA copolymer-Fab' conjugates superseded that of free anti-CD20 Ab that was hyper-cross-linked with a polyclonal, secondary Ab.

Reducible HPMA-co-oligolysine copolymers for nucleic acid delivery.

Biodegradability can be incorporated into cationic polymers via use of disulfide linkages that are degraded in the reducing environment of the cell cytosol. In this work, N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) and methacrylamido-functionalized oligo-l-lysine peptide monomers with either a non-reducible 6-aminohexanoic acid (AHX) linker or a reducible 3-[(2-aminoethyl)dithiol] propionic acid (AEDP) linker were copolymerized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. Both of the copolymers and a 1:1 (w/w) mixture of copolymers with reducible and non-reducible peptides were complexed with DNA to form polyplexes. The polyplexes were tested for salt stability, transfection efficiency, and cytotoxicity. The HPMA-oligolysine copolymer containing the reducible AEDP linkers was less efficient at transfection than the non-reducible polymer and was prone to flocculation in saline and serum-containing conditions, but was also not cytotoxic at charge ratios tested. Optimal transfection efficiency and toxicity were attained with mixed formulation of copolymers. Flow cytometry uptake studies indicated that blocking extracellular thiols did not restore transfection efficiency and that the decreased transfection of the reducible polyplex is therefore not primarily caused by extracellular polymer reduction by free thiols. The decrease in transfection efficiency of the reducible polymers could be partially mitigated by the addition of low concentrations of EDTA to prevent metal-catalyzed oxidation of reduced polymers.

Cathepsin B-sensitive polymers for compartment-specific degradation and nucleic acid release.

Degradable cationic polymers are desirable for in vivo nucleic acid delivery because they offer significantly decreased toxicity over non-degradable counterparts. Peptide linkers provide chemical stability and high specificity for particular endopeptidases but have not been extensively studied for nucleic acid delivery applications. In this work, enzymatically degradable peptide-HPMA copolymers were synthesized by RAFT polymerization of HPMA with methacrylamido-terminated peptide macromonomers, resulting in polymers with low polydispersity and near quantitative incorporation of peptides. Three peptide-HPMA copolymers were evaluated: (i) pHCathK(10), containing peptides composed of the linker phe-lys-phe-leu (FKFL), a substrate of the endosomal/lysosomal endopeptidase cathepsin B, connected to oligo-(L)-lysine for nucleic acid binding, (ii) pHCath(D)K(10), containing the FKFL linker with oligo-(D)-lysine, and (iii) pH(D)Cath(D)K(10), containing all (D) amino acids. Cathepsin B degraded copolymers pHCathK(10) and pHCath(D)K(10) within 1 h while no degradation of pH(D)Cath(D)K(10) was observed. Polyplexes formed with pHCathK(10) copolymers show DNA release by 4 h of treatment with cathepsin B; comparatively, polyplexes formed with pHCath(D)K(10) and pH(D)Cath(D)K(10) show no DNA release within 8 h. Transfection efficiency in HeLa and NIH/3T3 cells were comparable between the copolymers but pHCathK(10) was less toxic. This work demonstrates the successful application of peptide linkers for degradable cationic polymers and DNA release.

The transduction of Coxsackie and Adenovirus Receptor-negative cells and protection against neutralizing antibodies by HPMA-co-oligolysine copolymer-coated adenovirus.

Adenoviral (AdV) gene vectors offer efficient nucleic acid transfer into both dividing and non-dividing cells. However issues such as vector immunogenicity, toxicity and restricted transduction to receptor-expressing cells have prevented broad clinical translation of these constructs. To address this issue, engineered AdV have been prepared by both genetic and chemical manipulation. In this work, a polymer-coated Ad5 formulation is optimized by evaluating a series of N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide (HPMA)-co-oligolysine copolymers synthesized by living polymerization techniques. This synthesis approach was used to generate highly controlled and well-defined polymers with varying peptide length (K(5), K(10) and K(15)), polymer molecular weight, and degradability to coat the viral capsid. The optimal formulation was not affected by the presence of serum during transduction and significantly increased Ad5 transduction of several cell types that lack the Coxsackie and Adenovirus Receptor (CAR) by up to 6-fold compared to unmodified AdV. Polymer-coated Ad5 also retained high transduction capability in the presence of Ad5 neutralizing antibodies. The critical role of heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) in mediating cell binding and internalization of polymer-coated AdV was also demonstrated by evaluating transduction in HSPG-defective recombinant CHO cells. The formulations developed here are attractive vectors for ex vivo gene transfer in applications such as cell therapy. In addition, this platform for adenoviral modification allows for facile introduction of alternative targeting ligands.

HPMA-oligolysine copolymers for gene delivery: optimization of peptide length and polymer molecular weight.

Polycations are one of the most frequently used classes of materials for non-viral gene transfer in vivo. Several studies have demonstrated a sensitive relationship between polymer structure and delivery activity. In this work, we used reverse addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization to build a panel of N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA)-oligolysine copolymers with varying peptide length and polymer molecular weight. The panel was screened for optimal DNA-binding, colloidal stability in salt, high transfection efficiency, and low cytotoxicity. Increasing polyplex stability in PBS correlated with increasing polymer molecular weight and decreasing peptide length. Copolymers containing K(5) and K(10) oligocations transfected cultured cells with significantly higher efficiencies than copolymers of K(15). Four HPMA-oligolysine copolymers were identified that met the desired criteria. Polyplexes formed with these copolymers demonstrated both salt stability and transfection efficiencies on-par with poly(ethylenimine) PEI in cultured cells.

Synthesis of statistical copolymers containing multiple functional peptides for nucleic Acid delivery.

Our report describes RAFT copolymerization of multiple species of active peptide monomers with N-(2-hydroxypropyl(methacrylamide) (HPMA) under aqueous conditions. Resulting statistical copolymers are narrowly disperse with highly controlled molecular weight and composition. Side-chain peptide copolymers were synthesized using a DNA condensing peptide (K12), and an endosomal escape peptide (K6H5) that had been modified with an aminohexanoic linker and capped with methacrylamide vinyl on the NH2-terminus. Copolymers of HMPA-co-K12 and HPMA-co-K12-co-K6H5 efficiently condensed DNA into small particles that maintain size stability even in 150 mM salt solutions. With increasing peptide content, the peptide-based polymers demonstrated gene delivery efficiencies to HeLa cells that were comparable to branched polyethylenimine.

Synthesis and evaluation of multivalent branched HPMA copolymer-Fab' conjugates targeted to the B-cell antigen CD20.

Several drug delivery designs combine synthetic drug carriers with covalently conjugated targeting moieties. Such modifications of monoclonal antibodies (mAb), or their Fab' fragments, inevitably result in diminished affinity for their targeted tissue. In an attempt to overcome this limitation, high molecular weight, branched N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymers were synthesized and conjugated with Fab' fragments of the anti-CD20 antibody, 1F5. This produced multivalent conjugates with varying valency (amount of Fab' per macromolecule) targeted to the B-cell antigen CD20. Evaluation of a multivalent effect was done by determining the apparent K(D) at low concentrations of conjugates, the Sips heterogeneity factor, a, and the binding enhancement factors of each construct. The results clearly indicated that multivalency could improve the affinity of the HPMA copolymer-Fab' conjugates to that of unconjugated mAb.