pH-Responsive Lipid Nanoparticles Achieve Efficient mRNA Transfection in Brain Capillary Endothelial Cells

The blood–brain barrier (BBB), which is comprised of brain capillary endothelial cells, plays a pivotal role in the transport of drugs from the blood to the brain. Therefore, an analysis of proteins in the endothelial cells, such as transporters and tight junction proteins, which contribute to BBB function, is important for the development of therapeutics for the treatment of brain diseases. However, gene transfection into the vascular endothelial cells of the BBB is fraught with difficulties, even in vitro. We report herein on the development of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), in which mRNA is encapsulated in a nano-sized capsule composed of a pH-activated and reductive environment-responsive lipid-like material (ssPalm). We evaluated the efficiency of mRNA delivery into non-polarized human brain capillary endothelial cells, hCMEC/D3 cells. The ssPalm LNPs permitted marker genes (GFP) to be transferred into nearly 100% of the cells, with low toxicity in higher concentration. A proteomic analysis indicated that the ssPalm-LNP had less effect on global cell signaling pathways than a Lipofectamine MessengerMAX/GFP-encoding mRNA complex (LFN), a commercially available transfection reagent, even at higher mRNA concentrations.