Overview
- The study, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, reports a new class of aroLNPs that steers mRNA away from the liver and toward lymph nodes in mice.
- Researchers added aromatic rings and bioreducible disulfide bonds to the ionizable lipid, then tuned tail length and regiochemistry to shift where the particles travel.
- Top formulations delivered about ten times less mRNA to the liver than LNPs using Moderna’s ionizable lipid while keeping lymph-node delivery at similar levels.
- In vaccine models, aroLNPs matched antibody responses from clinically used lipids and triggered only small rises in systemic inflammatory cytokines.
- Biodistribution was tracked with luciferase mRNA to measure organ light signals, and the team says the approach could cut vaccine doses and enable immune therapies pending further testing.