Nanocarriers for Cardiac RNA Delivery

Laura Piñeiro Alonso – PhD, University of Santiago de Compostela - CiMUS; María José Alonso – Professor, University of Santiago de Compostela - CiMUS; Hélder A. Santos – Professor, University of Groningen - UMCG

Poster Presenter(s)

María González Portela, PhD candidate (she/her/hers)

PhD student
University of Santiago de Compostela and University of Groningen
Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain

Introduction:

Cardiovascular diseases remain leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. They result from impaired coronary blood flow, causing oxygen deprivation and mitochondrial dysfunction in cardiomyocytes. Ischemia-reperfusion activates maladaptive gene networks driving oxidative stress, inflammation and cell death. Gene-specific silencing strategies have therefore gained interest [1].

Here, we develop targeted nanocarriers intended to deliver cardioprotective siRNA to cardiomyocytes, addressing key biological barriers to effective myocardial delivery.

Learning Objectives:

Identify nanocarrier design parameters governing RNA stability, integrity, and colloidal behavior in plasma.
Explain how rational nanocarrier design enables diverse RNA loading while preserving key delivery properties.
Explain how nanocarriers are functionalized with cardiac-targeting peptides to overcome myocardial barriers.