Name: delivery of therapeutic sirna to the cns using cationic and anionic liposomes
Uploaded: 2016-07-23T15:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Delivery of Therapeutic siRNA to the CNS Using Cationic and Anionic Liposomes at JoVE.com

We would like to acknowledge the following funding sources: the CSU Infectious Disease Translational Research Training Program (ID:TRTP) and the NIH research grant program (R01 NS075214-01A1). We would like to thank the Telling lab for the use of their monoclonal antibody PRC5. We would also like to thank the Dow lab for DOTAP liposomes, and for sharing their expertise in generating liposomes.

All mice were bred and maintained at Lab Animal Resources, accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Lab Animal Care International, in accordance with protocols approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Colorado State University.
1. Preparation of LSPCs
<ol>
	<li>Use a 1:1 DOTAP (1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane):cholesterol ratio for LSPCs. For a 4 nmole liposome preparation, mix 2 nmoles of DOTAP and 2 nmoles of cholesterol into 10 ml of...

<ol>
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This report describes a protocol to create two targeted delivery systems that efficiently transports siRNA to the CNS. Previous methods of delivering siRNA to the CNS included injecting siRNA/shRNA vectors directly into the brain, intravenous injection of targeted siRNA, or intravenous injection of non-targeted liposome-siRNA complexes. Injection of siRNA/shRNA vectors into the CNS does cause a decrease in target protein expression levels. However, the siRNA/shRNA does not diffuse freely through the CNS. Furthermore, the...

Prions are severe neurodegenerative diseases that affect the CNS. Prion diseases result from the misfolding of the normal cellular prion protein, PrPC, by an infectious isomer called PrPRes. These diseases affect a wide variety of species including bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cows, scrapie in sheep, chronic wasting disease in cervids, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans1-3. Prions cause neurodegeneration that starts with synaptic loss, and progresses to vacuolization, gliosis, neuronal loss, and plaque deposits. Eventually, resulting in the death of the animal/individual4. For decades, researchers have investigated compounds meant to slow or stop the progression of prion disease. However, researchers have not found either a successful therapy or an effective systemic delivery vehicle.
Endogenous PrPC expression is required for the development of prion diseases5. Therefore, decreasing or eliminating PrPC expression may result in a delay or amelioration of disease. Several groups created transgenic mice with reduced levels of PrPC or injected lentivectors expressing shRNA directly into murine brain tissue to investigate the role of PrPC expression levels in prion disease. These researchers found reducing the amount of neuronal PrPC resulted in halting the progressive neuropathology of prion diseases and extended the life of the animals6-9. We have reported that PrPC siRNA treatment results in clearance of PrPRes in mouse neuroblastoma cells10. These studies suggest that the use of therapies to decrease PrPC expression levels, like small interfering RNA (siRNA), which cleaves mRNA, may sufficiently delay the progression of prion diseases. However, most therapies investigated for prion diseases were delivered in ways that would not be practical in a clinical setting. Therefore, a siRNA therapy needs a systemic delivery system, which is delivered intravenously and targeted to the CNS.
Investigators have studied the use of liposomes as delivery vehicles for gene therapy products. Cationic and anionic lipids are both used in the formation of liposomes. Cationic lipids are more widely used than anionic lipids because the charge difference between the cationic lipid and the DNA/RNA allows for efficient packaging. Another advantage of cationic lipids is that they cross the cell membrane more easily than other lipids11-14. However, cationic lipids are more immunogenic than anionic lipids13,14. Therefore, researchers have started to shift from using cationic to anionic lipids in liposomes. Gene therapy products can be efficiently packaged into anionic liposomes using the positively charged peptide protamine sulfate, which condenses DNA/RNA molecules15-19. Since anionic lipids are less immunogenic than cationic lipids they may have increased circulation times, and may be more tolerated in animal models13,14. Liposomes are targeted to specific tissues using targeting peptides that are attached to the liposomes. The RVG-9r neuropeptide, which binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, has been used to target siRNA and liposomes to the CNS17-20.
This report outlines a protocol to produce three siRNA delivery vehicles, and to package and deliver the siRNA to neuronal cells (Figure 1). Liposome-siRNA-peptide complexes (LSPCs) are composed of liposomes with siRNA and the RVG-9r targeting peptide electrostatically attached to the outer surface of the liposome. Peptide addressed liposome encapsulated therapeutic siRNA (PALETS) are composed of siRNA and protamine encapsulated within the liposome, with RVG-9r covalently bonded to lipid PEG groups. Using the below methods to generate LSPCs and PALETS, PrPC siRNA decreases PrPC expression up to 90% in neuronal cells, which holds tremendous promise to cure or substantially delay the onset of prion disease pathology.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="606">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">DOTAP lipid</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Avanti Lipids</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">890890</td>
			<td style="width:167px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Cholesterol</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Avanti Lipids</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">700000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">DSPE</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Avanti Lipids</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">850715</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">DSPE-PEG</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Avanti Lipids</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">880125</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Chloroform</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">AC268320010</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Methanol</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">EMD Millipore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">113351</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">N2 Gas</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">AirGas</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Sucrose</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">S5-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Extruder</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Avanti Lipids</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">610023</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">1.0, 0.4, and 0.2um filters</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Avanti Lipids</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">610010, 610007, 610006</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">PBS</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Life Technologies</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">70011-044</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Protamine sulfate</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">ICN10275205</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">EDC</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Thermo Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">22980</td>
			<td>Aliquoted for single use</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Sulfo-NHS</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Thermo Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">24510</td>
			<td>Aliquoted for single use</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">40um Cell Strainer</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">08-771-1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Rat anti-mouse CD16/CD32 Fc block</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">BD Pharmigen</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">553141</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Anti-PrP antibody (PRC5)</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Proprietary - PRC</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

delivery of therapeutic sirna to the cns using cationic and anionic liposomes

Prion diseases result from the misfolding of the normal, cellular prion protein (PrPC) to an abnormal protease resistant isomer called PrPRes. The emergence of prion diseases in wildlife populations and their increasing threat to human health has led to increased efforts to find a treatment for these diseases. Recent studies have found numerous anti-prion compounds that can either inhibit the infectious PrPRes isomer or down regulate the normal cellular prion protein. However, most of these compounds do not cross the blood brain barrier to effectively inhibit PrPRes formation in brain tissue, do not specifically target neuronal PrPC, and are often too toxic to use in animal or human subjects. 
We investigated whether siRNA delivered intravascularly and targeted towards neuronal PrPC is a safer and more effective anti-prion compound. This report outlines a protocol to produce two siRNA liposomal delivery vehicles, and to package and deliver PrP siRNA to neuronal cells. The two liposomal delivery vehicles are 1) complexed-siRNA liposome formulation using cationic liposomes (LSPCs), and 2) encapsulated-siRNA liposome formulation using cationic or anionic liposomes (PALETS). For the LSPCs, negatively charged siRNA is electrostatically bound to the cationic liposome. A positively charged peptide (RVG-9r [rabies virus glycoprotein]) is added to the complex, which specifically targets the liposome-siRNA-peptide complexes (LSPCs) across the blood brain barrier (BBB) to acetylcholine expressing neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). For the PALETS (peptide addressed liposome encapsulated therapeutic siRNA), the cationic and anionic lipids were rehydrated by the PrP siRNA. This procedure results in encapsulation of the siRNA within the cationic or anionic liposomes. Again, the RVG-9r neuropeptide was bound to the liposomes to target the siRNA/liposome complexes to the CNS. Using these formulations, we have successfully delivered PrP siRNA to AchR-expressing neurons, and decreased the PrPC expression of neurons in the CNS.

To increase the efficiency of siRNA encapsulation within anionic PALETS, the siRNA was mixed with protamine. To determine the best protamine concentration for the siRNA, the siRNA was mixed with different concentrations of protamine, from 1:1 to 2:1 (Figure 3A). There was a 60-65% siRNA encapsulation efficiency in anionic liposomes without the use of protamine. Samples with protamine:siRNA molar ratios from 1:1 to 1.5:1 (133-266 nM) had 80-90% siRNA encapsulation. Molar r...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Delivery of Therapeutic siRNA to the CNS Using Cationic and Anionic Liposomes at JoVE.com

Delivery of Therapeutic siRNA to the CNS Using Cationic and Anionic Liposomes

The goal of this protocol is to use cationic/anionic liposomes with a neuro-targeting peptide as a CNS delivery system to enable siRNA to cross the BBB. The optimization of a delivery system for treatments, like siRNA, would allow for more treatment options for prion and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Prion diseases result from the misfolding of the normal, cellular prion protein (PrPC) to an abnormal protease resistant isomer called PrPRes.  The ...

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Localized intraductal treatments for breast cancer offer potential advantages, including efficient delivery to the tumor and reduced systemic toxicity and ...

Preparation, Purification, and Use of Fatty Acid-containing Liposomes

Liposomes containing single-chain amphiphiles, particularly fatty acids, exhibit distinct properties compared to those containing diacylphospholipids due ...

Comprehensive Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Safety of Placenta-Targeted Drug Delivery Using Three Complementary Methods

No effective treatments currently exist for placenta-associated pregnancy complications, and developing strategies for the targeted delivery of drugs to ...

Generation of Cationic Nanoliposomes for the Efficient Delivery of In Vitro Transcribed Messenger RNA

Generation of Cationic Nanoliposomes for the Efficient Delivery of In Vitro Transcribed Messenger RNA

The development of messenger RNA (mRNA)-based therapeutics for the treatment of various diseases becomes more and more important because of the positive ...