Abstract
Messenger RNA (mRNA) can instruct cells to produce specific proteins and holds promise for treating a range of diseases caused by a deficiency in particular proteins or for expression of proteins that direct cell fate for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering applications. In the last decade, issues of stability and immunogenicity that previously hindered the therapeutic use of mRNA have been overcome. However, clinically relevant delivery remains a challenge for the of potential of mRNA to be fully realised.
Development of materials that can protect mRNA against degradation and facilitate intracellular delivery will be described, including the formulation of nanocomplexes that enabled the first demonstration of non-invasive inhalation of mRNA for protein production in lung epithelium. Furthermore, these materials offer a platform for chemical and topological modification for the investigation of material properties on gene delivery. Future challenges for translation of emerging mRNA therapeutics including control of pharmacokinetic profile of mRNA will be discussed.
Biography
Asha Patel is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Cell & Gene Therapy at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London. Her research draws on multidisciplinary approaches including nanotechnology, materials science, biochemistry and pharmaceutics to harness the potential of nucleic acid-based therapeutics. A major theme of her research focuses on the need to develop safe and effective vehicles for the delivery of nucleic acid to target cells in the body and ex vivo, using clinically relevant administration routes.
Asha joined the department in 2018 after completing 4 years of postdoctoral training as an EPSRC eterm fellow in the laboratories of Professors Daniel Anderson and Robert Langer at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Here, she developed biodegradable materials for the inhaled delivery of mRNA to the lung.
Asha graduated with a first class honours degree in Pharmacy from King’s College London and has over 7 years of professional experience, she remains a member of the General Pharmaceutical Council. In 2014, she was awarded her PhD by the University of Nottingham where she developed synthetic biomaterials that modulate human pluripotent stem cell and cardiomyocyte behaviour, under the guidance of Professors Chris Denning, Morgan Alexander and Martyn Davies.