Programming Brain Cell-Type-Selective Delivery In Vivo with Transporter-Guided Therapeutics

Many diseases arise from dysfunction of defined cell populations, yet most therapeutics distribute broadly, limiting efficacy and causing toxicity. We developed ExACT, a platform for cell-type-selective intracellular delivery that exploits membrane transporters. In vivo screening of combinatorial fluorescent small-molecule libraries in mouse brain identified chemistries whose uptake is dictated by endogenous transporter expression, yielding compounds with preferential entry into neurons, astrocytes, pericytes and endothelial cells. One series showed strong selectivity for brain and retinal endothelium, where Slco1a4 mediated uptake. This selectivity principle extended to the human orthologue SLCO1A2, highly expressed in brain endothelium and oligodendrocytes, where it mediated selective uptake in a humanized mouse model and human iPSC-derived oligodendrocytes. Ectopic expression of SLCO1A2 in neurons via gene therapy created a synthetic entry port, conferring ExACT conjugate uptake on otherwise inaccessible cells. Bifunctional compounds linking transporter-targeting motifs to antisense oligonucleotides or small-molecule drugs retained pharmacological activity while conferring transporter-dependent cell-type selectivity, illustrating how transporter diversity can be harnessed for precision pharmacotherapy.