New adaptable nanoparticle platform enables enhanced delivery of gene therapies, RCSI research
DULBIN, June 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Scientists have developed polypeptide-based materials that act as effective vectors for delivering gene therapies. The first-of-its-kind platform enables the vectors to be adapted to suit the specific gene therapy cargo.
The work, led by researchers from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and funded by Science Foundation Ireland, is published in Biomaterials Science.
A major challenge for gene therapies is preparing them in a way that can deliver the genetic information into the host cells. For the Covid-19 vaccines that use mRNA technology, the genetic information is delivered in a lipid nanoparticle to maintain its stability and deliver it into cells. The success of the COVID vaccines has established nanoparticles as key to the development of many advanced therapies.