Mathematical Modeling: A Tool for Optimization of Lipid Nanoparticle-Mediated Delivery of siRNA

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have been used to successfully deliver small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to target cells in both preclinical and clinical studies and currently are the leading systems for in vivo delivery. Here, we propose the use of an ordinary differential equation (ODE)-based model as a tool for optimizing LNP-mediated delivery of siRNAs. As a first step, we have used a combination of experimental and computational approaches to develop and validate a mathematical model that captures the critical features for efficient siRNA-LNP delivery in vitro. This model accurately predicts mRNA knockdown resulting from novel combinations of siRNAs and LNPs in vitro. As demonstrated, this model can be effectively used as a screening tool to select the most efficacious LNPs, which can then further be evaluated in vivo. The model serves as a starting point for the future development of next generation models capable of capturing the additional complexity of in vivo delivery.