RNA delivery to the corneal endothelium using charge-altering releasable transporters

Abstract

RNA therapies hold tremendous promise for treating genetic eye diseases. However, their development is limited by the lack of non-viral delivery platforms that can target specific ocular cell types. Here, we describe a charge-altering releasable transporter (CART) that delivers RNA selectively to the corneal endothelium, a non-regenerative cell layer whose dysfunction underlies several blinding conditions. We characterize the safety of CART-RNA nanoparticles in mice and show that they facilitate delivery of diverse RNA cargoes to the corneal endothelium, including circular RNA and CRISPR/Cas9. We verify that these nanoparticles can be redosed and apply them to achieve corneal gene editing. We further demonstrate CART transfection of corneal endothelial cells from a human donor in vitro and in a non-human primate in vivo, supporting the feasibility of clinical translation. Our findings establish CARTs as a platform for non-viral gene delivery to the eye, with the potential to treat corneal dystrophies and other vision disorders.