Molecular Delivery Overview

Biological cells are the basic living unit enveloped by a lipid bi-layer membrane. The sophisticated cell membrane utilizes various biophysical and biochemical mechanisms to allow desirable molecules such as nutrients to enter cells, in meantime, prevent potentially harmful foreign agents, such as xenobiotics, from entering the cell.

In modern biology and medicine, it is an essential requirement to be able to break the cell membrane barrier so to deliver foreign molecules, such as DNA, siRNA, peptides and hydrophilic small molecule compounds, which are not naturally uptaken by cells, effectively and selectively into biological cells in vitro and in vivo.

Rational possesses extensive intellectual property and expertise in effective and selective in vitro and in vivo molecular delivery; Rational harnesses its core competence to enable basic life science research by providing novel platform technology, and to develop advanced therapeutic solutions for treating formidable diseases.

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Biochemical Delivery Technology

Over the course of billions of years of evolution, biological cells have developed extremely sophisticated ways, through a large number of membrane proteins or many biochemical pathways, to regulate transport of nutrients and xenobiotics in and out of cells.

A large body of understanding on these endogenous biochemical means and their therapeutic significance has only been assembled in the recent years. Although there are many scientific and technological hurdles to be overcame, scientists are optimistic on utilizing these intrinsic delivery methods to develop more effective medicines with less adverse effects.

Rational has developed its intellectual property on large-scale analysis of interactions between drugs and a class of membrane proteins that are primarily responsible transporting most nutrients and xenobiotics inside the human body. Enabled by this unmatched assay capability, Rational utilizes a rational strategy and approach to discover, design new compounds, or to modify existing drugs, so to explore or intervene these shuttle proteins; consequently, to improve therapeutic efficacy and safety profiles of these drugs through more effective and more targeted delivery inside the human body.


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Biophysical Delivery Technology

Numerous studies have shown that cell membranes can undergo transient conformational changes when briefly stimulated with various forms of energy, such as electrical, sonic and thermal. This transient structural changes render the cell membranes permeable to most macro and many small molecules that normally can not cross health cell membrane. These biophysical techniques have been widely used in gene transfer and drug delivery for both in vitro and in vivo applications.

Rational is developing a patent-pending novel technology for effective and selective delivery of therapeutic agents, such as drugs, DNA and siRNA, to targeted human organs; this could lead to advent of novel minimal invasive therapies for regeranerative medicine and solid tumor treatment.

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