DOTAP-Engineered Lipid Nanoparticles Enable Fibroblast-Targeted CRISPR/Cas9 Delivery for HSP47 Silencing and Pulmonary Fibrosis Therapy

Heat shock protein 47 (HSP47) regulates collagen synthesis and fibrosis, which makes it a promising target for controlling pulmonary fibrosis. However, challenges such as cell-selective and efficient drug delivery continue to impede the verification and translation of HSP47-targeted therapies. The CRISPR/Cas9 system can effectively inhibit the overexpression of HSP47 within fibrotic lesions while significantly reducing off-target effects. This study develops a class of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) capable of codelivering Cas9 mRNA and sgHSP47 to fibroblasts. By incorporation of an additional cationic effector molecule, 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP), these LNPs achieve differential delivery across various cell lines and markedly enhance uptake efficiency in fibroblasts. This system mediates effective HSP47 knockdown in L929 cells and the lungs of C57BL/6 mice, leading to reduced collagen deposition and fibroblast activation in bleomycin-induced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) mice. This LNP platform holds substantial potential for gene editing-based IPF therapy and provides valuable insights for the efficient and selective delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 systems.