The University of Pennsylvania, under a $349,375 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (CFDA 93.865 - Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research), is developing a targeted lipid nanoparticle (LNP) platform to deliver therapeutic mRNA payloads to the placenta for the treatment of pre-eclampsia, a leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide.
The goal is to use high-throughput screening to identify LNP formulations that demonstrate tropism to the placenta, and then functionalize the lead candidates with placenta-specific antibodies to promote targeted delivery to trophoblasts and endothelial cells. The efficacy of the mRNA-loaded LNPs will be evaluated in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo using human and mouse placental models, with the intent of rescuing maternal hypertension, fetal health, and the immunophenotype in an induced pre-eclampsia mouse model. This research aims to address the significant unmet need for novel therapeutic strategies to treat pre-eclampsia, as current clinical interventions only manage the associated symptoms rather than the underlying placental dysfunction.
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