ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Combining neutron reflectometry and simulations to characterise interaction of model mRNA with cationic membranes

Abstract: Cationic (or ionisable) lipids, along with neutral helper lipids and cholesterol, form a crucial component of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), which are currently used as delivery agents for mRNA-based drugs (e.g Covid-19 vaccines). Despite the success in this area, there remain many challenges. The current formulation of these LNPs is highly unstable, therefore must be stored at very low temperatures. One of the main reasons for this instability is the degradation of mRNA inside the complex LNP environment. An understanding of interactions between RNA and cationic/neutral membranes would provide insight into the mechanism of this degradation and the stability and function of LNPs, therefore aid in the rational design of new formulations. The power of computational simulations to aid in analysis of experimental data from complex samples has grown and can be used to infer structural details.

Principal Investigator: Professor Tommy Nylander
Experimenter: Dr Nadine Schwierz
Local Contact: Dr Maxmilian Skoda
Experimenter: Dr Jennifer Gilbert
Experimenter: Mr MOHD IBRAHIM Ibrahim

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2210293

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2210293

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Tommy Nylander et al; (2022): Combining neutron reflectometry and simulations to characterise interaction of model mRNA with cationic membranes, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2210293

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.