Nanocapsule delivery system for ribonucleoproteins

1. A nanocapsule comprising a single ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex as a core and a biodegradable crosslinked polymer shell that encapsulates the core, wherein

the RNP complex comprises a Cas9 polypeptide and a guide RNA, and

the biodegradable crosslinked polymer shell comprises polymerized monomers of imidazolyl acryloyl monomers, bisacryloyl disulfides, optionally PEG acryloyl monomers, and either cationic acryloyl monomers, anionic acryloyl monomers, or both cationic and anionic acryloyl monomers, and optionally non-ionic acryloyl monomers.

2. The nanocapsule of claim 1 , wherein the guide RNA is a modified guide RNA comprises

a crRNA comprising, from a single-stranded protospacer sequence, a protospacer adjacent motif for a Cas9 polypeptide, and a first complementary strand of a binding region for the Cas9 polypeptide, and

a tracrRNA comprising, a second complementary strand of the binding region for the Cas9 polypeptide,

wherein the crRNA or the tracrRNA optionally comprises an aptamer that binds a biotin-binding molecule,

wherein the crRNA and the tracrRNA hybridize through the first and second complementary strands of the binding region for the Cas9 polypeptide.

3. The nanocapsule of claim 2 , wherein the crRNA and the tracrRNA form an sgRNA, the sgRNA comprising, from 5′ to 3′,

the single-stranded protospacer sequence,

the protospacer adjacent motif for a Cas9 polypeptide,

the first complementary strand of a binding region for the Cas9 polypeptide,

optionally, the aptamer that binds a biotin-binding molecule, and

the second complementary strand of the binding region for the Cas9 polypeptide.

4. The nanocapsule of claim 3 , wherein, in the secondary structure of the modified sgRNA, the binding region for the Cas9 polypeptide and optionally the aptamer that binds the biotin-binding molecule form a stem-loop structure.

5. The nanocapsule of claim 4 , wherein the modified guide RNA has the sequence

(SEQ ID NO: 1)

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGUUUAAGAGCUAUGCUGCGAAUACGAGAUG

CGGCCGCCGACCAGAAUCAUGCAAGUGCGUAAGAUAGUCGCGGGUCGGCG

GCUCGUAUUCGCAGCAUAGCAAGUUUAAAUAAGGCUAGUCCGUUAUCAAC

UUGAAAAAGUGGCACCGAGUCGGUGCUUUU;

(SEQ ID NO: 2)

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGUUUAAGAGCUAUGCUGGAAACAGCAUAGC

AAGUUUAAAUAAGGCUAGUCCGUUAUCAACUUCGAAUACGAGAUGCGGCC

GCCGACCAGAAUCAUGCAAGUGCGUAAGAUAGUCGCGGGUCGGCGGCUCG

UAUUCGGAAAAAGUGGCACCGAGUCGGUGCUUUU;

or

(SEQ ID NO: 3)

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGUUUAAGAGCUAUGCUGGAAACAGCAUAGC

AAGUUUAAAUAAGGCUAGUCCGUUAUCAACUUGAAAAAGUGGCACCGAGU

CGGUGCCGAAUACGAGAUGCGGCCGCCGACCAGAAUCAUGCAAGUGCGUA

AGAUAGUCGCGGGUCGGCGGCUCGUAUUCGUUUU.

6. The nanocapsule of claim 1 wherein the mass ratio between the polymer shell and the RNP ranges from greater than 0.4 to 10.0.

7. The nanocapsule of claim 6 wherein the mass ratio between the polymer shell and the RNP ranges from 0.4 to 3.5.

8. The nanocapsule of claim 1 wherein the polymer shell comprises polymerized monomers of both cationic and anionic acryloyl monomers.

9. The nanocapsule of claim 8 wherein the mole ratio of cationic acrylate monomers to anionic acrylate monomers ranges from 10:1 to 1:10.

10. The nanocapsule of claim 8 wherein the mole ratio of cationic acrylate monomers to anionic acrylate monomers ranges from 3:1 to 1:3.

11. The nanocapsule of claim 1 wherein the polymer shell comprises polymerized monomers of both cationic and non-ionic acryloyl monomers.

12. The nanocapsule of claim 11 wherein the mole ratio of cationic acryloyl monomers to non-ionic acryloyl monomers ranges from 10:1 to 1:10.

13. The nanocapsule of claim 11 wherein the mole ratio of cationic acryloyl monomers to non-ionic acrylate monomers ranges from 3:1 to 1:3.

14. The nanocapsule of claim 1 wherein the mole ratio of all monomers to RNP is about 400:1 to 8000:1.

15. The nanocapsule of claim 8 wherein the mole ratio of imidazolyl acryloyl monomer to RNP is 20:1 to 800:1.

16. The nanocapsule of claim 8 wherein the mole ratio of imidazolyl acryloyl monomer to RNP is 20:1 to 400:1.

17. The nanocapsule of claim 8 wherein the mole ratio of bisacryloyl disulfide monomers to RNP is 50:1 to 1000:1.

18. The nanocapsule of claim 1 where the mole ratio of PEG acryloyl monomers to RNP is 0:1 to 30:1.

19. The nanocapsule of claim 1 wherein the cationic acryloyl monomer has the structure of Formula (I):

wherein

R 1 is H or methyl;

R 11 is H or methyl or ethyl;

R 12 is H or methyl or ethyl;

X is O or NH; and

n is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.

20. The nanocapsule of claim 19 wherein R 11 and R 12 are each H.

21. The nanocapsule of claim 1 wherein the anionic acryloyl monomer has the structure of Formula II:

wherein

R 2 is H or methyl;

Y is OH, —O—(CH 2 ) m —COOH, —O—(CH 2 ) m —SO 3 H, —O—(CH 2 ) m —OPO 3 H 2 , —NH—(CH 2 ) m —COOH, —NH—(CH 2 ) m —SO 3 H, or —NH—(CH 2 ) m —OPO 3 H 2 ; and

m is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.

22. The nanocapsule of claim 1 comprising polymerized monomers of the non-ionic acryloyl monomer having the structure of Formula III:

wherein

R 7 is H or methyl;

R 15 and R 16 are each independently H, methyl, ethyl, propyl, or isopropyl.

23. The nanocapsule of claim 1 wherein the imidazolyl acryloyl monomer has the structure of Formula IV:

wherein

R 3 is H or methyl;

Z is O or NH; and

t is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.

24. The nanocapsule of claim 1 wherein the imidazolyl acryloyl monomer has the structure of Formula IV-2:

wherein

R 13 is H or methyl;

Z 2 is O or NH; and

p is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.

25. The nanocapsule of claim 1 wherein the imidazole monomer has the structure of Formula IV-3:

wherein

R 14 is H or methyl;

q is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6.

26. The nanocapsule of claim 1 wherein the bisacryloyl disulfide monomer has the structure of Formula V:

wherein

A and D are independently selected from O and NH; and

R 4 and R 5 are independently selected from H and methyl.

27. The nanocapsule of claim 1 wherein the PEG acryloyl monomer is present and has the structure of Formula VI:

wherein

E is O or NH;

R 6 is H or methyl;

PEG is polyethylene glycol having a weight average molecular weight of 500 Da to 5,000 Da; and the PEG is terminated by a group selected from a targeting ligand, OH, O—(C 1-6 )alkyl, NH 2 , biotin, a cell penetrating peptide, a dye or other imaging agent.

28. The nanocapsule of claim 1 wherein at least PEG acryloyl monomer comprises a targeting ligand, a dye or a cell penetrating peptide attached to the PEG moiety.

29. A method of delivering an RNP to a cell to modify a target gene comprising exposing the cell to an effective amount of a nanocapsule of claim 1 .

30. A kit comprising the nanocapsule of claim 1 .