Non-Viral Gene Therapy in Trabecular Meshwork Cells to Prevent Fibrosis in Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery



Luo, Jinyuan, Tan, Greymi, Thong, Kai Xin, Kafetzis, Konstantinos N, Vallabh, Neeru ORCID: 0000-0002-0109-4112, Sheridan, Carl M ORCID: 0000-0003-0100-9587, Sato, Yusuke, Harashima, Hideyoshi, Tagalakis, Aristides D and Yu-Wai-Man, Cynthia
(2022) Non-Viral Gene Therapy in Trabecular Meshwork Cells to Prevent Fibrosis in Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery. PHARMACEUTICS, 14 (11). 2472-.

Access the full-text of this item by clicking on the Open Access link.

Abstract

The primary cause of failure for minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) is fibrosis in the trabecular meshwork (TM) that regulates the outflow of aqueous humour, and no anti-fibrotic drug is available for intraocular use in MIGS. The myocardin-related transcription factor/serum response factor (MRTF/SRF) pathway is a promising anti-fibrotic target. This study aims to utilise a novel lipid nanoparticle (LNP) to deliver MRTF-B siRNA into human TM cells and to compare its effects with those observed in human conjunctival fibroblasts (FF). Two LNP formulations were prepared with and without the targeting peptide cΥ, and with an siRNA concentration of 50 nM. We examined the biophysical properties and encapsulation efficiencies of the LNPs, and evaluated the effects of <i>MRTF-B</i> silencing on cell viability, key fibrotic genes expression and cell contractility. Both LNP formulations efficiently silenced <i>MRTF-B</i> gene and were non-cytotoxic in TM and FF cells. The presence of cΥ made the LNPs smaller and more cationic, but had no significant effect on encapsulation efficiency. Both TM and FF cells also showed significantly reduced contractibility after transfection with MRTF-B siRNA LNPs. In TM cells, LNPs with cΥ achieved a greater decrease in contractility compared to LNPs without cΥ. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the novel CL4H6-LNPs are able to safely and effectively deliver MRTF-B siRNA into human TM cells. LNPs can serve as a promising non-viral gene therapy to prevent fibrosis in MIGS.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: nanoparticle, gene therapy, trabecular meshwork, fibrosis, MIGS
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Life Courses and Medical Sciences
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 31 Jan 2023 10:38
Last Modified: 31 Jan 2023 10:38
DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14112472
Open Access URL: https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14112472
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3168004