We aim to develop formulation (nanoparticles) and physical methods (electroporation) for the delivery of DNA and RNA (siRNA, mRNA) with a particular interest in vaccination and cancer treatments (Figure 6).
Electroporation of DNA was optimized to deliver plasmid vaccines into the skin or the muscle. This potent delivery method allows high level of expression. Optimised plasmids encoding tumor antigens elicited humoral and cellular immune response and induced tumor control or regression. Electroporation of an antiangiogenic plasmid encoding the recombinant domain of ADAM-15 reduced tumor growth and modified the tumor microenvironment, leading to synergy with radiotherapy. Electroporation of plasmid coding for host defense peptides promoted wound healing in healthy and diabetic mice models.
Nanoparticles loaded with DNA and siRNA have been developed and showed good transfection efficiency in vitro. We are currently developing targeted nanoparticles for a specific delivery of siRNA to tumors in vivo.
In a near future, our physical and formulation approaches will be extended to deliver DNA, siRNA, mRNA with a special emphasis on cancer treatment.
Figure 6: Plasmid DNA and siRNA delivery