The University of Massachusetts Amherst

Efficient Cytosolic Delivery of siRNA Using Nanoparticle-Stabilized Nanocapsules

LEAD INVENTOR:

Vincent M. Rotello, Ph.D.

 
PRODUCT OPPORTUNITIES

•       Novel delivery vehicle for the development and delivery of RNAi-based therapeutics

•       Advanced tool for life science, drug discovery or biomedical research

•       Efficient intracellular nucleic acid delivery system

 
ADVANTAGES

•       New mechanism of siRNA delivery that allows for efficient and rapid cytosolic delivery of siRNA

•       No endosomal entrapment of siRNA

•       Stable nanocapsules

•       High-efficiency gene silencing

•       Applicable to the cytosolic delivery of other nucleic acids

 
TECHNOLOGY DESCRIPTION

This invention provides a new siRNA delivery vehicle that enables efficient cytosolic delivery of siRNA as well as other nucleic acids. The delivery system involves the use of surface functionalized nanoparticles to form self-assembled superstructures with the protein to be delivered. The nanoparticle-protein assemblies effectively escape endosomal entrapment and rapidly deliver the protein into the cell cytosol or the targeting organelle. This protein delivery system has been successfully demonstrated for the efficient delivery of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system as well as a number of other proteins with different physiochemical properties.

 

Nanocapsule-based siRNA delivery resulted in efficient knockdown of PLK1 protein in cancer cells

ABOUT THE LEAD INVENTOR

Dr. Vincent M. Rotello is the Charles A. Goessmann Professor of Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His research team focuses on creating new functional materials for a variety of applications.
AVAILABILITY:
Available for Licensing and/or Sponsored Research
DOCKET:
UMA 15-057
PATENT STATUS:
Patent Pending
Contact:
Nikki Hoang
Licensing Officer
University of Massachusetts
nikkihoang@research.umass.edu
Inventor(s):
Vincent Rotello
Ying Jiang
Rui Tang
Keywords: