WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Published, peer-reviewed research shows a patent-pending, virus-mimicking platform technology developed at Purdue University improves upon traditional methods of targeting bladder cancer cells with messenger RNA (mRNA) therapies.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , highlights compelling features of the therapy-delivering system with respect to size, targetability, encapsulation efficiency, complex stability, gene expression and "green" manufacturability.
David Thompson led the team conducting research about layer-by-layer elastin-like polypeptide nucleic acid nanoparticle (LENN). He is a professor in the James Tarpo Jr. and Margaret Tarpo Department of Chemistry and a member of the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research and the Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery . Saloni Darji, a commercialization postdoctoral research associate, is the paper's lead author.
"We have validated that the LENN system can be freeze-dried and stored for several days as a powder and retain full biological activity after rehydration," Thompson said. "We also confirmed that this biomanufacturable system homes to the target tissue and neither alters the natural entry pathway to those tumors nor triggers an immune response. LENN traffics to the cancer cells then releases the mRNA within the cells, leading to expression of the protein encoded by the mRNA.
"These results could address challenges faced by lipid nanoparticle delivery systems, which must be continuously stored as liquids below minus 45 degrees Celsius to maintain their activity," he said. "Additionally, LENN system components are products of biological expression that enable a readily manufacturable delivery system."
Thompson disclosed LENN to the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization
