Work

Targeted intracellular oral RNA delivery through tea polyphenol nanovesicle to outer membrane vesicle transfer for colitis treatment

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Efficient oral delivery of RNA to the target site is a long-standing issue for nucleic acid–based therapy. Herein, we adopted a vesicle-to-vesicle transfer strategy and established an efficient approach to encapsulate and stabilize RNA for targeted oral delivery. The amphiphilic specifically acylated epigallocatechin directly performed encapsulation of RNA and generated nanovesicles in high efficiency without assistance of additional materials. The RNA encapsulated in the nanovesicles was efficiently transferred to outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) derived from Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 probiotic through membrane fusion with simple operation. The derived hybrid vesicles (HVs) were further anchored with bilirubin and Lys-Asp-Glu-Leu grafted hyaluronic acid (HA-BR-KDEL) ligand for sequential cellular and intracellular targeting to the endoplasmic reticulum of inflammatory cells in inflamed intestinal tract. Oral delivery of HVs@HA-BR-KDEL notably alleviated colitis symptoms in mice and contributed to the restoration of intestinal homeostasis. The tea polyphenol hybrid OMV strategy holds great promise for oral gene-mediated treatment.

Source: Science Advances

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adx8336

Authors: Taisong Fang, Songbai Liu

Institution: Zhejiang University

Language: English

Topic: RNA Interference and Gene Delivery

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $4,500