Lipid Nano Particles (LNP)
RNA therapeutics has rapidly developed since a great success of RNA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 virus. Encapsulation into Lipid NanoParticles (LNPs) has been proven to be one of the most efficient ways for RNA delivery in vivo. The approach uses lipid mixtures with positively charged cationic lipids that interact to negatively charged RNA molecules, protecting them from from enzymatic degradation and providing intracellular penetration. In a joined effort with Abisch-Frenkel RNA Therapeutics Center (Prof. Igor Ulitsky), we established a publically available facility for RNA-LNP production. Our facility integrates equipment required for LNP assembly, post-assembly processing and quality control. It allows production of minimum 2 ml of RNA-LNPs that covers most of the research needs.
NanoAssembler Ignite:
The Ignite system (Precision NanoSystems) is designed to assemble RNA lipid nano particles particles (LNPs), using microfluidic cartriges. Easy-to-use programming provides high reproducibility of the LNP assembly. Either custom lipids formulations or a commercial kit (GenVoy-ILM) can be applied for RNA encapsulations. Disposable NxGen cartriges eliminates risk of cross-contamination.
Zetasizer:
ZetaSizer Ultra (Malvern Panalytical) is the most advanced analyser enabled to measure (1) size of nanoparticles, (2) particle concentration, and (3) Z-potential of nanoparticles. The device enables to analyse particles up to 1 um. Estimation of particle size and Z-potential is a necessary step of LNP quality control, but can also be used in other applications, like analysis of aggregates.
Typical output of mRNA encapsulation by the GenVoy-ILM lipids. ZetaSizer detects a single pick of 120nms.