Leveraging high-throughput screening technologies in targeted mRNA delivery

Abstract

Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) has emerged as a promising molecular preventive and therapeutic approach that opens new avenues for healthcare. Although the use of delivery systems, especially lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), greatly improves the efficiency and stability of mRNA, mRNA tends to accumulate in the liver and hardly penetrates physiological barriers to reach the target site after intravenous injection. Hence, the rational design of targeting strategies aimed at directing mRNA to specific tissues and cells remains an enormous challenge in mRNA therapy. High-throughput screening (HTS) is a cutting-edge targeted technique capable of synthesizing chemical compound libraries for the large-scale experiments to validate the efficiency of mRNA delivery system. In this review, we firstly provide an overview of conventional low-throughput targeting strategies. Then the latest advancements in HTS techniques for mRNA targeted delivery, encompassing optimizing structures of large-scale delivery vehicles and developing large-scale surface ligands, as well as the applications of HTS techniques in extrahepatic systemic diseases are comprehensively summarized. Moreover, we illustrate the selection of administration routes for targeted mRNA delivery. Finally, challenges in the field and potential solutions to tackle them are proposed, offering insights for future development toward mRNA targeted therapy.

Keywords

• Messenger ribonucleic acid
• High-throughput screening
• Targeted delivery
• Lipid nanoparticles