Exosome–Liposome Hybrid Nanoparticles Deliver CRISPR/Cas9 System in MSCs

TLDR

Targeted delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 to receptor cells is essential for in vivo gene editing, yet exosomes, though promising as drug carriers, have limited efficiency in encapsulating large nucleic acids. Here, a hybrid exosome–liposome nanoparticle is created by simple incubation. The hybrid exosome–liposome nanoparticles efficiently encapsulate large CRISPR–Cas9 plasmids, are endocytosed by mesenchymal stem cells and express the cargo—an ability liposomes alone lack—demonstrating their promise for in vivo gene manipulation.

Abstract

Abstract Targeted delivery of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR‐associated protein 9 (Cas9) system to the receptor cells is essential for in vivo gene editing. Exosomes are intensively studied as a promising targeted drug delivery carrier recently, while limited by their low efficiency in encapsulating of large nucleic acids. Here, a kind of hybrid exosomes with liposomes is developed via simple incubation. Different from the original exosomes, the resultant hybrid nanoparticles efficiently encapsulate large plasmids, including the CRISPR–Cas9 expression vectors, similarly as the liposomes. Moreover, the resultant hybrid nanoparticles can be endocytosed by and express the encapsulated genes in the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which cannot be transfected by the liposome alone. Taken together, the exosome–liposome hybrid nanoparticles can deliver CRISPR–Cas9 system in MSCs and thus be promising in in vivo gene manipulation.