Membrane Fusion‐Mediated Loading of Therapeutic siRNA into Exosome for Tissue‐Specific Application
Miao Xie, Yuqing Wu, Yilun Zhang, Ruiyang Lu, Zimeng Zhai, Yangyang Huang, Fujun Wang, Changchang Xin, Guangyu Rong, Chen Zhao, Kai Jiang, Xujiao Zhou, Xingtao Zhou, Xinyuan Zhu, Jiaxu Hong, Chuan Zhang
Abstract
Tissue-specific delivery of oligonucleotide therapeutics beyond the liver remains a key challenge in nucleic acid drug development. To address this issue, exploiting exosomes as a novel carrier has emerged as a promising approach for efficient nucleic acid drug delivery. However, current exosome-based delivery systems still face multiple hurdles in their clinical applications. Herein, this work presents a strategy for constructing a hybrid exosome vehicle (HEV) through a DNA zipper-mediated membrane fusion approach for tissue-specific siRNA delivery. As a proof-of-concept, this work successfully fuses a liposome encapsulating anti-NFKBIZ siRNAs with corneal epithelium cell (CEC)-derived exosomes to form a HEV construct for the treatment of dry eye disease (DED). With homing characteristics inherited from exosomes, the siRNA-bearing HEV can target its parent cells and efficiently deliver the siRNA payloads to the cornea. Subsequently, the NFKBIZ gene silencing significantly reduces pro-inflammatory cytokine secretions from the ocular surface, reshapes its inflammatory microenvironment, and ultimately achieves an excellent therapeutic outcome in a DED mouse model. As a versatile platform, this hybrid exosome with targeting capability and designed therapeutic siRNAs may hold great potential in various disease treatments.