Impact of chemistry and nanoformulation parameters on cellular uptake and airway distribution of RNA oligonucleotides

Small, synthetic oligonucleotides (ON) are of great interest as potential disease modifying drugs, mainly because of their ability to modulate previously undruggable target mutations. To date, therapeutic applications of ON are, however, limited by their physicochemical properties, including poor stability, rapid excretion and low intracellular access. In order to overcome some of these shortcomings, ON are generally formulated using nanoparticle (NP) delivery systems. Alternatively, the poor stability can be circumvented by including chemical modifications to the backbone or sugars of the ON. Some of these modifications also result in better intracellular target access of these otherwise membrane-impermeable macromolecules. Therefore, complex formulation of ON into NP in order to overcome the hurdle of intracellular access might not always be needed, especially in case of local delivery. In this study, the delivery and functionality of chemically modified ON in free form was compared to polymeric NP assisted delivery, measuring their effectivity and efficiency. For this reason, phosphorothioate (PS) backbone-modified 18-mer ON with either 2'OMe or 2'MOE-modifications were selected, capable of eliciting exon-skipping of an aberrant exon in fluorescence based in vitro and in vivo model systems. The NP consisted of poly(D,L-lactic,co-glycolic acid) and poly-β-amino-ester, previously demonstrated to successfully deliver nucleic acids via the pulmonary route. Several NP formulation parameters were tested in order to optimize the delivery of the ON, including ratio polymer:ON, NP size and concentration. The results reported here show clear differences between gymnotic and nanoparticle mediated ON delivery in terms of cellular uptake and local tissue distribution. In vitro, differences in exon-skipping efficiencies were observed with 2'OMe and 2'MOE ON either in free form or formulated in NP, with the striking observation that 2'OMe ON formulated in polymeric NP did not result in exon skipping. Gymnotic delivery of 2'MOE ON into the respiratory tract of mice resulted in functional delivery of exon-skipping ON into nasal epithelia and lungs as well as other downstream tissues and organs, pointing towards a gradual redistribution of locally delivered ONs, with limited but measurable systemic exposure. Conversely, NP-mediated delivery into the respiratory tract resulted in a more contained functional delivery at 10× lower ON doses compared to gymnotic delivery. Based on these findings we conclude that gymnotic delivery of 2'OMe or 2'MOE exon-skipping ON to the respiratory tract is effective, but that NP formulation might be advantageous in case spread of ON to non-target tissue can lead to undesired effects.