Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Feb;114(2):1423-1433.
doi: 10.1016/j.xphs.2024.12.019. Epub 2024 Dec 24.

Sustained release of RNA nanoparticles from reservoir implant for ocular delivery

Zhanquan Shi  1 , Cheng Zhong  1 , Daniel W Binzel  2 , Kai Jin  2 , Peixuan Guo  3 , S Kevin Li  4
Affiliations

Sustained release of RNA nanoparticles from reservoir implant for ocular delivery

Zhanquan Shi et al. J Pharm Sci. 2025 Feb.

Abstract

Previous studies of RNA nanoparticles have demonstrated the potential of these nanoparticles in ocular delivery via the subconjunctival route. Sustained ocular delivery is beneficial for chronic eye disease treatment, and utilizing a reservoir implant in the periocular space (e.g., episcleral implant) can prolong ocular delivery of these nanoparticles. The objectives of the present study were to (a) demonstrate the fabrication of the reservoir implants, (b) evaluate the performance of the implants with model permeants and RNA nanoparticles in vitro, and (c) investigate the applicability of hindered transport theory for the release kinetics from the implants. In vitro release testing was performed with the implants to determine the release kinetics and implant membrane permeability. In addition to RNA nanoparticles, model permeants fluorescein-isothiocyanate (FITC) labeled dextrans (10, 40, and 150 kDa) were examined. The results indicated that the rates of permeant release from the implants were a function of the (a) size and structure of the permeant/nanoparticle and (b) type and pore size of the implant membrane. The model analyses provided insights into implant membrane transport and ocular pharmacokinetics of the nanoparticles for transscleral delivery. The results suggested the potential of prolonged delivery of the RNA nanoparticles with the episcleral implant approach.

Keywords: Drug release; Episcleral implant; Hindered diffusion; Membrane transport; Ocular drug delivery; RNA nanoparticles; Reservoir implant.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest P.G. is the licenser of Oxford Nanopore Technologies and the cofounder of ExonanoRNA, LLC. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Burnett JC, Rossi JJ. RNA-based therapeutics: current progress and future prospects. Chem Biol. 2012;19(1):60–71. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chen Y, Li Y, Li C, et al. The current perspective and opportunities of small nucleic acid-based therapeutics. Drug Dev Res. 2024;85(2):e22164. - PubMed
    1. Guo PX, Bailey S, Bodley JW, Anderson D. Characterization of the small RNA of the bacteriophage phi 29 DNA packaging machine. Nucleic Acids Res. 1987;15(17):7081–7090. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Guo S, Piao X, Li H, Guo P. Methods for construction and characterization of simple or special multifunctional RNA nanoparticles based on the 3WJ of phi29 DNA packaging motor. Methods. 2018;143:121–133. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Binzel DW, Li X, Burns N, et al. Thermostability, tunability, and tenacity of RNA as rubbery anionic polymeric materials in nanotechnology and nanomedicine-specific cancer targeting with undetectable toxicity. Chem Rev. 2021;121(13):7398–7467. - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources