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A team from SIMM lab has, for the first time, measured the mechanical properties of lipid nanoparticles used as carriers in Covid vaccines to transport messenger RNA. Using atomic force microscopy (AFM), the team demonstrated that the mechanical properties depend on the type of biopolymer being transported.
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are nanometric assemblies composed of phospholipids and biopolymers such as messenger RNAs. They are the basis of Covid vaccines and are also being developed as future drug delivery vectors. The role of these nanoparticles is to transport and protect the messenger RNA and then deliver it to the part of the body where it will be useful.
Why measure their mechanical properties? There is a debate in the pharmaceutical literature about the link between the mechanical properties of this type of vector and their therapeutic efficacy. Indeed, several studies suggest that the mechanical properties of nanovectors control how they can interact with cells and release their contents. However, there is no simple and reliable method to measure the mechanical properties of objects so small and fragile!
Sixtine de Chateauneuf-Randon completed her M2 internship at SIMM, co-supervised by Bruno Bresson from SIMM, an AFM expert, Cécile Monteux, and Etienne Barthel, in collaboration with Sanofi. She characterized the properties of LNPs containing either messenger RNA, a flexible molecule, or DNA, a more rigid molecule. She used AFM to deform the particles with a nanometric tip while measuring the interaction force between the tip and the particles. She observed that LNPs containing DNA deformed less reversibly than particles containing messenger RNA. This study is therefore a first step towards understanding the link between mechanical properties and the efficiency of drug molecule delivery.
De Chateauneuf-Randon et al, Nanoscale, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1039/D3NR06543J
