Speaker
Description
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are widely used as drug delivery systems and have been successfully applied in vaccines such as Onpattro, Comirnaty, and Spikevax. Despite their global success, key questions remain regarding the mechanisms of endosomal drug release from LNPs. Numerous experimental and theoretical studies have addressed this topic. Most previous theoretical studies have been performed at a coarse-grained resolution. My work aims to develop an atomistic simulation protocol to gradually construct inverse hexagonal lipid assemblies containing RNA molecules at their core. The structural and dynamic properties of these systems would be analyzed and compared with experimental data. This inverse hexagonal organization is hypothesized to play a critical role in facilitating endosomal escape, and understanding its behavior may provide valuable insights into improving LNP-based drug delivery.
