Plug-and-play assembly of biodegradable ionizable lipids for potent mRNA delivery and gene editing in vivo

mRNA-based gene editing therapeutics offer the potential to permanently cure diseases but are hindered by suboptimal delivery platforms. Here, we devise a robust combinatorial chemistry for the plug-and-play assembly of structurally diverse biodegradable ionizable lipids from amines/thiols and dialkyl maleates. After screening 500 ionizable lipids, we obtained structure-activity relationships essential for effective in vitro mRNA delivery with the help of machine learning. Furthermore, we identified a lead ionizable lipid candidate that produced potent lipid nanoparticles for the delivery of various gene editing tools in wild-type and genetically modified mice compared to literature and industry benchmark lipid nanoparticles. Mechanistically, our lipid nanoparticles show favorable physicochemical properties, which could synergistically contribute to the superior delivery performance. This study highlights the utility of this synthetic method as well as the generality of this platform for potent in vivo gene editing.