Endolysosome entrapment is one of the key barriers to the therapeutic use of biologic drugs that act intracellularly. The screening of prospective nanoscale endosome-disrupting delivery technologies is currently limited by methods that are indirect and cumbersome. Here, we statistically validate Galectin 8 (Gal8) intracellular tracking as a superior approach that is direct, quantitative, and predictive of therapeutic cargo intracellular bioactivity through in vitro highthroughput screening and in vivo validation. Gal8 is a cytosolically dispersed protein that, when endosomes are disrupted, redistributes by binding to glycosylation moieties selectively located on the inner face of endosomal membranes. The quantitative redistribution of a Gal8 fluorescent fusion protein from the cytosol into endosomes is demonstrated as a real-time, livecell assessment of endosomal integrity that does not require labeling or modification of either the carrier or the biologic drug and that allows quantitative distinction between closely related, endosome-disruptive drug carriers. Through screening two families of siRNA polymeric carrier compositions at varying dosages, we show that Gal8 endosomal recruitment correlates strongly (r = 0.95 and p < 10 −4) with intracellular siRNA bioactivity. Through this screen, we gathered insights into how composition and molecular weight affect endosome disruption activity of poly[(ethylene glycol)b-[(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)-co-(butyl methacrylate)]] [PEG-(DMAEMA-co-BMA)] siRNA delivery systems. Additional studies showed that Gal8 recruitment predicts intracellular bioactivity better than current standard methods such as Lysotracker colocalization (r = 0.35, not significant), pH-dependent hemolysis (not significant), or cellular uptake (r = 0.73 and p < 10 −3).

Although siRNA-based nanomedicines hold promise for cancer treatment, conventional siRNA–polymer complex (polyplex) nanocarrier systems have poor pharmacokinetics following intravenous delivery, hindering tumor accumulation. Here, we determined the impact of surface chemistry on the in vivo pharmacokinetics and tumor delivery of siRNA polyplexes. A library of diblock polymers was synthesized, all containing the same pH-responsive, endosomolytic polyplex core-forming block but different corona blocks: 5 kDa (benchmark) and 20 kDa linear polyethylene glycol (PEG), 10 kDa and 20 kDa brush-like poly(oligo ethylene glycol), and 10 kDa and 20 kDa zwitterionic phosphorylcholine-based polymers (PMPC). In vitro, it was found that 20 kDa PEG and 20 kDa PMPC had the highest stability in the presence of salt or heparin and were the most effective at blocking protein adsorption. Following intravenous delivery, 20 kDa PEG and PMPC coronas both extended circulation half-lives 5-fold compared to 5 kDa PEG. However, in mouse orthotopic xenograft tumors, zwitterionic PMPC-based polyplexes showed highest in vivo luciferase silencing (>75% knockdown for 10 days with single IV 1 mg/kg dose) and 3-fold higher average tumor cell uptake than 5 kDa PEG polyplexes (20 kDa PEG polyplexes were only 2-fold higher than 5 kDa PEG). These results show that high molecular weight zwitterionic polyplex coronas significantly enhance siRNA polyplex pharmacokinetics without sacrificing polyplex uptake and bioactivity within tumors when compared to traditional PEG architectures.

Clinical translation of therapies based on small interfering RNA (siRNA) is hampered by siRNA's comprehensively poor pharmacokinetic properties, which necessitate molecule modifications and complex delivery strategies. We sought an alternative approach to commonly used nanoparticle carriers by leveraging the long-lived endogenous serum protein albumin as an siRNA carrier. We synthesized siRNA conjugated to a diacyl lipid moiety (siRNA-L2), which rapidly binds albumin in situ. siRNA-L2, in comparison with unmodified siRNA, exhibited a 5.7-fold increase in circulation half-life, an 8.6-fold increase in bioavailability, and reduced renal accumulation. Benchmarked against leading commercial siRNA nanocarrier in vivo jetPEI, siRNA-L2 achieved 19-fold greater tumor accumulation and 46-fold increase in per-tumor-cell uptake in a mouse orthotopic model of human triple-negative breast cancer. siRNA-L2 penetrated tumor tissue rapidly and homogeneously; 30 min after i.v. injection, siRNA-L2 achieved uptake in 99% of tumor cells, compared with 60% for jetPEI. Remarkably, siRNA-L2 achieved a tumor:liver accumulation ratio >40:1 vs. <3:1 for jetPEI. The improved pharmacokinetic properties of siRNA-L2 facilitated significant tumor gene silencing for 7 d after two i.v. doses. Proof-of-concept was extended to a patient-derived xenograft model, in which jetPEI tumor accumulation was reduced fourfold relative to the same formulation in the orthotopic model. The siRNA-L2 tumor accumulation diminished only twofold, suggesting that the superior tumor distribution of the conjugate over nanoparticles will be accentuated in clinical situations. These data reveal the immense promise of in situ albumin targeting for development of translational, carrier-free RNAi-based cancer therapies.

A series of endosomolytic mixed micelles was synthesized from two diblock polymers, poly[ethylene glycol-b-(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate-co-propylacrylic acid-co-butyl methacrylate)] (PEG-b-pDPB) and poly[dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate-b-(dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate-co-propylacrylic acid-co-butyl methacrylate)] (pD-b-pDPB), and used to determine the impact of both surface PEG density and PEG molecular weight on overcoming both intracellular and systemic siRNA delivery barriers. As expected, the percent PEG composition and PEG molecular weight in the corona had an inverse relationship with mixed micelle zeta potential and rate of cellular internalization. Although mixed micelles were internalized more slowly, they generally produced similar gene silencing bioactivity (~80% or greater) in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells as the micelles containing no PEG (100D/no PEG). The mechanistic explanation for the potent bioactivity of the promising 50 mol% PEG-b-DPB/50 mol% pD-b-pDPB (50D) mixed micelle formulation, despite its relatively low rate of cellular internalization, was further investigated as a function of PEG molecular weight (5 k, 10 k, or 20 k PEG). Results indicated that, although larger molecular weight PEG decreased cellular internalization, it improved cytoplasmic bioavailability due to increased intracellular unpackaging (quantitatively measured via FRET) and endosomal release. When delivered intravenously in vivo, 50D mixed micelles with a larger molecular weight PEG in the corona also demonstrated significantly improved blood circulation half-life (17.8 min for 20 k PEG micelles vs. 4.6 min for 5 kDa PEG micelles) and a 4-fold decrease in lung accumulation. These studies provide new mechanistic insights into the functional effects of mixed micelle-based approaches to nanocarrier surface PEGylation. Furthermore, the ideal mixed micelle formulation identified (50D/20 k PEG) demonstrated desirable intracellular and systemic pharmacokinetics and thus has strong potential for in vivo therapeutic use.

Combination therapies consisting of multiple short therapeutic RNAs, such as small interfering RNA (siRNA) and microRNA (miRNA), have enormous potential in cancer treatment as they can precisely silence specific set of oncogenes and target multiple related disease pathways. However, clinical use of siRNA/miRNA combinations is limited by the availability of safe and efficient systemic delivery systems with sufficient tumor penetrating and endosomal escaping capabilities. This study reports on the development of multifunctional tumor-penetrating mesoporous silica nanoparticles (iMSNs) for simultaneous delivery of siRNA (siPlk1) and miRNA (miR-200c), using encapsulation of a photosensitizer indocyanine green (ICG) to facilitate endosomal escape and surface conjugation of iRGD peptide to enable deep tumor penetration. Increased cell uptake of the nanoparticles was observed in both 3D tumor spheroids in vitro and in orthotopic MDA-MB-231 breast tumors in vivo. Using a galectin-8 recruitment assay, we showed that reactive oxygen species generated by ICG upon light irradiation functioned as an endosomolytic stimulus that caused release of the siRNA/miRNA combination from endosomes. Co-delivery of the therapeutic RNAs displayed combined cell killing activity in cancer cells. Systemic intravenous treatment of metastatic breast cancer with the iMSNs loaded with siPlk1 and miR-200c resulted in a significant suppression of the primary tumor growth and in marked reduction of metastasis upon short light irradiation of the primary tumor. This work demonstrates that siRNA-miRNA combination assisted by photodynamic effect and tumor penetrating delivery system may provide a promising approach for metastatic cancer treatment.