{"id":135711,"date":"2026-08-28T17:52:21","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T17:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/135711\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T17:52:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T17:52:21","slug":"seoul-city-university-team-develops-high-load-rna-delivery-to-cut-triglycerides-for-4-weeks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/135711\/","title":{"rendered":"Seoul City University team develops high-load RNA delivery to cut triglycerides for 4 weeks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Provided<\/p>\n

A technology has been developed that overcomes the loading and efficacy limits of lipid nanoparticle carriers. Provided by Getty Image Bank.<\/p>\n

A technology has been developed that delivers larger amounts of ribonucleic acid (RNA) into cells than existing RNA carriers and maintains drug efficacy for longer periods. In mouse experiments, the reduction in blood triglycerides lasted for about four weeks, raising the possibility of developing therapies for chronic metabolic diseases such as hyperlipidemia.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The National Research Foundation of Korea announced on the 28th that a team led by Professor Jong Beom Lee in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Seoul has developed a “Lipid-fusogenic Core RNA nanomodules (L-CRAM)” platform that can load high amounts of short interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) and continuously suppress multiple target genes. The results were published online on July 29 in the international journal Advanced Functional Materials.<\/p>\n

siRNA is an RNA strand of about 20 nucleotides that binds to specific messenger RNA and inhibits the production of disease-related proteins. Because it can selectively reduce the expression of disease-related genes, it is attracting attention as a next-generation therapeutic modality, but it is easily degraded and has difficulty crossing the cell membrane, making a delivery carrier essential.<\/p>\n

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), which are used as siRNA carriers, have limitations in the amount of RNA they can encapsulate. After entering cells, they can also become trapped in membrane-bound vesicles called endosomes, which may shorten the duration of drug action.<\/p>\n

\"Schematic<\/p>\n

Schematic diagram showing how L-CRAM works. Provided by Professor Jong Beom Lee.<\/p>\n

The research team fabricated a “Core RNA nanomodules (CRAM)” structure densely packed with siRNA sequences and then attached a lipid layer that fuses with the cell membrane to its surface, thereby developing L-CRAM.<\/p>\n

L-CRAM can load more siRNA than conventional LNPs. By fusing with the cell membrane, it efficiently delivers RNA into the cytoplasm. Cytoplasmic nucleases gradually cleave the RNA, inducing continuous generation and release of siRNA.<\/p>\n

In cell experiments, L-CRAM targeting the “APOC3” protein induced approximately 70% gene knockdown in hepatocytes. APOC3 is a protein that interferes with the breakdown and clearance of blood triglycerides, and the gene-silencing effect lasted up to seven days. By modifying the RNA sequences, the team also confirmed the potential for single or simultaneous inhibition of multiple targets, including PCSK9, ANGPTL3, and APOC3.<\/p>\n

\"L-CRAM-induced<\/p>\n

Reduction of blood lipids by L-CRAM observed in mouse experiments. Provided by Professor Jong Beom Lee.<\/p>\n

In mouse models, intravenously administered L-CRAM was delivered to the liver and suppressed APOC3 expression. The team also observed decreases in blood triglyceride and lipoprotein levels. The triglyceride-lowering effect persisted for up to four weeks.<\/p>\n

Professor Jong Beom Lee said, “With a small number of particles, we can deliver large amounts of siRNA and regulate multiple genes from a single particle, so this platform can be used to develop long-acting RNA therapeutics not only for complex metabolic diseases but also for cancer and inflammatory diseases.” He added, “We plan follow-up studies to verify therapeutic efficacy in hyperlipidemia disease models, evaluate long-term safety and immune responses under repeated dosing, and establish processes for large-scale manufacturing.”<\/p>\n

doi.org\/10.1002\/adfm.77032
\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

From left, Professor Jong Beom Lee and postdoctoral researcher Seong Hyun Moon. Provided by the National Research Foundation of Korea.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u24d2 DongA Science. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A technology has been developed that overcomes the loading and efficacy limits of lipid nanoparticle carriers. Provided by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[68916,68917,68914,61023,68915,68906,112,68907,29828,14602,68908,68909,68910,68911,68912,29821,68913],"class_list":["post-135711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-seoul","tag-delivery-carrier","tag-lipid-nanoparticles","tag-metabolic-diseases","tag-national-research-foundation-of-korea","tag-ribonucleic-acid","tag-rna","tag-seoul","tag-sirna","tag-therapeutics","tag-university-of-seoul","tag-68908","tag-68909","tag-68910","tag-68911","tag-68912","tag-29821","tag-68913"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}