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Preparation of mRNA Polyplexes with Post-conjugated Endosome-Disruptive Peptides

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Peptide Conjugation

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2355))

Abstract

Successful delivery of mRNA into the cytosol of professional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) poses one of the biggest challenges in developing effective mRNA vaccines to treat various cancers and viral infectious diseases. However, most polymeric mRNA delivery systems fail to transfect APCs. We have discovered that decoration of pH-sensitive endosome-disruptive GALA peptides on the surface of mRNA polyplexes leads to efficient targeting and transfection of APCs. GALA peptides not only enhance specific uptake in APCs through binding to sialic acid moieties, they also facilitate the endosomal escape of mRNA especially in dendritic cells (DCs). Here, we describe in detail the production of stabilized mRNA polyplexes post-conjugated with GALA peptides via copper-free click chemistry. Methods described here include the synthesis and purification of GALA peptides and its conjugation to mRNA polyplexes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by the China Scholarship Council (CSC).

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Correspondence to Enrico Mastrobattista .

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© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

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Lou, B., Lau, C.Y.J., Hennink, W.E., Mastrobattista, E. (2021). Preparation of mRNA Polyplexes with Post-conjugated Endosome-Disruptive Peptides. In: Hussein, W.M., Stephenson, R.J., Toth, I. (eds) Peptide Conjugation. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2355. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1617-8_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1617-8_21

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-1616-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-1617-8

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