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. 2025 May 10:381:113586.
doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.113586. Epub 2025 Mar 1.

Transdermal delivery of ultradeformable cationic liposomes complexed with miR211-5p (UCL-211) stabilizes BRAFV600E+ melanocytic nevi

Tanya Chhibber  1 , Michael T Scherzer  2 , Anastasia Prokofyeva  2 , Carly Becker  3 , Rebecca Goldstein Zitnay  2 , Eric Smith  4 , Nitish Khurana  1 , Mikhail Skliar  5 , Dekker C Deacon  3 , Matthew W VanBrocklin  6 , Hamidreza Ghandehari  7 , Robert L Judson-Torres  8 , Paris Jafari  9
Affiliations

Transdermal delivery of ultradeformable cationic liposomes complexed with miR211-5p (UCL-211) stabilizes BRAFV600E+ melanocytic nevi

Tanya Chhibber et al. J Control Release. .

Abstract

Small non-coding RNAs (e.g., siRNA, miRNA) are involved in a variety of melanocyte-associated skin conditions and act as drivers for alterations in gene expression within melanocytes. These molecular changes can potentially affect the cellular stability of melanocytes and promote their oncogenic transformation. Thus, small RNAs can be considered as therapeutic targets for these conditions, however, their transdermal delivery to the melanocytes through the epidermal barrier is challenging. We synthesized and extensively evaluated ultradeformable cationic liposome (UCLs) carriers complexed with synthetic microRNAs (miR211-5p; UCL-211) for transdermal delivery to melanocytes. UCL-211 complexes were characterized for their physicochemical properties, encapsulation efficiency, and deformability, which revealed a significant advantage over conventional liposomal carriers. Increased expression of miR211-5p stabilizes melanocytic nevi and keeps them in a growth-arrested state. We did a comprehensive assessment of cellular delivery, and biological activity of the miR211-5p carried by UCL-211 in vitro and their permeation through the epidermis of intact skin using ex vivo human skin tissue explants. We also demonstrated, in vivo, that transdermal delivery of miR211-5p by topical application of UCL-211 stabilized BRAFV600E+ nevi melanocytes in a benign nevi state.

Keywords: Melanocytes; Melanocytic nevi; Transdermal delivery; Ultradeformable cationic liposomes; miRNA delivery.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors have no competing interests to declare.

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