ARMMs as a versatile platform for intracellular delivery of macromolecules

Authors

Qiyu Wang, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Jiujiu Yu, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Tatenda Kadungure, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Joseph Beyene, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Hong Zhang, University of Massachusetts Medical SchoolFollow
Quan Lu, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthFollow

Date of this Version

2018

Citation

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03390-x

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS (2018) 9:960

Comments

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Abstract

Majority of disease-modifying therapeutic targets are restricted to the intracellular space and are therefore not druggable using existing biologic modalities. The ability to efficiently deliver macromolecules inside target cells or tissues would greatly expand the current landscape of therapeutic targets for future generations of biologic drugs, but remains challenging. Here we report the use of extracellular vesicles, known as arrestin domain containing protein 1 [ARRDC1]-mediated microvesicles (ARMMs), for packaging and intracellular delivery of a myriad of macromolecules, including the tumor suppressor p53 protein, RNAs, and the genome-editing CRISPR-Cas9/guide RNA complex. We demonstrate selective recruitment of these macromolecules into ARMMs. When delivered intracellularly via ARMMs, these macromolecules are biologically active in recipient cells. P53 delivered via ARMMs induces DNA damage-dependent apoptosis in multiple tissues in mice. Together, our results provide proof-of-principle demonstration that ARMMs represent a highly versatile platform for packaging and intracellular delivery of therapeutic macromolecules.