Computationally guided high-throughput design of self-assembling drug nanoparticles.

Nanoformulations of therapeutic drugs are transforming our ability to effectively deliver and treat a myriad of conditions. Often, however, they are complex to produce and exhibit low drug loading, except for nanoparticles formed via co-assembly of drugs and small molecular dyes, which display drug-loading capacities of up to 95%. There is currently no understanding of which of the millions of small-molecule combinations can result in the formation of these nanoparticles. Here we report the integration of machine learning with high-throughput experimentation to enable the rapid and large-scale identification of such nanoformulations. We identified 100 self-assembling drug nanoparticles from 2.1 million pairings, each including one of 788 candidate drugs and one of 2,686 approved excipients. We further characterized two nanoparticles, sorafenib-glycyrrhizin and terbinafine-taurocholic acid both ex vivo and in vivo. We anticipate that our platform can accelerate the development of safer and more efficacious nanoformulations with high drug-loading capacities for a wide range of therapeutics.

Identification of a long non-coding RNA regulator of liver carcinoma cell survival.

Genomic studies have significantly improved our understanding of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) biology and have led to the discovery of multiple protein-coding genes driving hepatocarcinogenesis. In addition, these studies have identified thousands of new non-coding transcripts deregulated in HCC. We hypothesize that some of these transcripts may be involved in disease progression. Long non-coding RNAs are a large class of non-coding transcripts which participate in the regulation of virtually all cellular functions. However, a majority of lncRNAs remain dramatically understudied. Here, we applied a pooled shRNA-based screen to identify lncRNAs essential for HCC cell survival. We validated our screening results using RNAi, CRISPRi, and antisense oligonucleotides. We found a lncRNA, termed ASTILCS, that is critical for HCC cell growth and is overexpressed in tumors from HCC patients. We demonstrated that HCC cell death upon ASTILCS knockdown is associated with apoptosis induction and downregulation of a neighboring gene, protein tyrosine kinase 2 (PTK2), a crucial protein for HCC cell survival. Taken together, our study describes a new, non-coding RNA regulator of HCC.

mRNA Delivery for Therapeutic Anti-HER2 Antibody Expression In Vivo.

Antibody-based drugs are a leading class of biologics used to treat a variety of diseases, including cancer. However, wide antibody implementation is hindered by manufacturing challenges and high production cost. Use of in-vitro-transcribed mRNA (IVT-mRNA) for endogenous protein expression has the potential to circumvent many of the shortcomings of antibody production and therapeutic application. Here, we describe the development of an IVT-mRNA system for in vivo delivery of a humanized anti-HER2 (also known as ERBB2) antibody, trastuzumab, and demonstrate its anticancer activity. We engineered the IVT-mRNA sequence to maximize expression, then formulated the IVT-mRNA into lipid-based nanoparticles (LNPs) to protect the mRNA from degradation and enable efficient in vivo delivery. Systemic delivery of the optimized IVT-mRNA loaded into LNPs resulted in antibody serum concentrations of 45 ± 8.6 µg/mL for 14 days after LNP injection. Further studies demonstrated an improved pharmacokinetic profile of the produced protein compared to injection of trastuzumab protein. Finally, treatment of tumor-bearing mice with trastuzumab IVT-mRNA LNPs selectively reduced the volume of HER2-positive tumors and improved animal survival. Taken together, the results of our study demonstrate that using IVT-mRNA LNPs to express full-size therapeutic antibodies in the liver can provide an effective strategy for cancer treatment and offers an alternative to protein administration.

Receptor-mediated oxidative stress in murine cerebellar neurons is accompanied by phosphorylation of MAP (ERK 1/2) kinase.

A primary culture of murine cerebellar neurons was used to induce oxidative stress resulting in the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and activation of ERK 1/2 kinase. Short-term incubation (15 min) of cerebellar neurons with homocysteine (HC) or N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) induced partial ERK 1/2 phosphorylation thus providing the activation of the enzyme. Inhibitors of NMDA receptors, MK-801 or D-AP5, both prevented the activation of cells by HC or NMDA. Another receptor-dependent means of oxidative stress stimulation is exposure of cells to the cardiac glycoside ouabain, a specific inhibitor of Na/K-ATPase. Ouabain induces ROS accumulation and substantial ERK1/2 activation in neuronal cells at concentrations as low as 1 nM - 1 M, which corresponds to participation of Na/K-ATPase in intracellular signalling. Neuropeptide carnosine added to the cells 2 hours before oxidative stress prevented both ROS accumulation and ERK1/2 activation. As ERK1/2 kinase plays a key role in gene expression responsible for either cell adaptation or cell death, the model used gives a useful tool to characterize the effect of natural and synthetic anti-cancer drugs on cellular life. The data presented show that carnosine is a natural modulator of oxidative stress in neuronal cells, providing regulation of ERK1/2 activity via buffering intracellular ROS levels.