Delivery of siRNA to the mouse brain by systemic injection of targeted exosomes

L Alvarez-Erviti, Y Seow, HF Yin, C Betts… - Nature …, 2011 - nature.com
L Alvarez-Erviti, Y Seow, HF Yin, C Betts, S Lakhal, MJA Wood
Nature biotechnology, 2011nature.com
To realize the therapeutic potential of RNA drugs, efficient, tissue-specific and
nonimmunogenic delivery technologies must be developed. Here we show that exosomes—
endogenous nano-vesicles that transport RNAs and proteins,—can deliver short interfering
(si) RNA to the brain in mice. To reduce immunogenicity, we used self-derived dendritic cells
for exosome production. Targeting was achieved by engineering the dendritic cells to
express Lamp2b, an exosomal membrane protein, fused to the neuron-specific RVG …
Abstract
To realize the therapeutic potential of RNA drugs, efficient, tissue-specific and nonimmunogenic delivery technologies must be developed. Here we show that exosomes—endogenous nano-vesicles that transport RNAs and proteins,—can deliver short interfering (si)RNA to the brain in mice. To reduce immunogenicity, we used self-derived dendritic cells for exosome production. Targeting was achieved by engineering the dendritic cells to express Lamp2b, an exosomal membrane protein, fused to the neuron-specific RVG peptide. Purified exosomes were loaded with exogenous siRNA by electroporation. Intravenously injected RVG-targeted exosomes delivered GAPDH siRNA specifically to neurons, microglia, oligodendrocytes in the brain, resulting in a specific gene knockdown. Pre-exposure to RVG exosomes did not attenuate knockdown, and non-specific uptake in other tissues was not observed. The therapeutic potential of exosome-mediated siRNA delivery was demonstrated by the strong mRNA (60%) and protein (62%) knockdown of BACE1, a therapeutic target in Alzheimer's disease, in wild-type mice.
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