Cellular Highway 1

Cellular Highway 1

Chau Vo, Kimberly Bennett, Paula Hammond

Koch Institute at MIT

This image demonstrates the successful intracellular delivery of mRNA nanoparticles (magenta), which have escaped the cell recycling system, namely the endosomes (green), to reach the cytosol where the mRNA can yield its therapeutic effect. Notably, in the central cell that is shown to extend two tunneling nanotubes toward its neighbors, which are structures that facilitate cell-to-cell communication, escaped nanoparticles are also visible just like in the main cell body. The presence of free nanoparticles within these bridges suggests that the therapeutic payload can leverage these intercellular highways, potentially enabling direct cell-to-cell transfer.

Green and purple lights illuminate a dark background, depicting mRNA nanoparticles escaping endosomes in a cellular environment.

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