Modified polynucleotides for the production of secreted proteins

Abstract

The present disclosure describes compositions including polynucleotides encoding polypeptides which have been chemically modified by replacing the uridines with 5-methoxy-uridines to improve the compositions, engagement with translational machinery, mRNA half-life, translation efficiency, immune evasion, protein production capacity, secretion efficiency, accessibility to circulation, protein half-life and/or modulation of a cell's status, protein half-life and/or modulation of a cell's status function, and/or activity.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A pharmaceutical composition comprising:
 a plurality of lipid nanoparticles comprising a cationic lipid, a neutral lipid, a cholesterol, and a PEG lipid, wherein the plurality of lipid nanoparticles has a mean particle size of between 80 nm and 160 nm; and 
 wherein the lipid nanoparticles comprise an mRNA encoding a polypeptide, wherein the mRNA comprises: 
 (i) at least one 5′-cap structure; 
 (ii) a 5′-UTR; 
 (iii) an open reading frame encoding the polypeptide and consisting of nucleotides including 5-methoxy-uracil, cytosine, adenine, and guanine; 
 (iv) a 3′-UTR; and 
 (v) a poly-A region of least 100 nucleotides in length. 
 
     
     
       2. The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 1 , wherein the cationic lipid is a biodegradable cationic lipid. 
     
     
       3. The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one 5′-cap structure is cap0, cap1, ARCA, inosine, N1-methyl-guanosine, 2′-fluoro-guanosine, 7-deaza-guanosine, 8-oxo-guanosine, 2-amino-guanosine, LNA-guanosine, or 2-azido-guanosine. 
     
     
       4. The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 3 , wherein the at least one 5′-cap structure is cap0, cap1, or ARCA. 
     
     
       5. The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 1 , wherein the 3′-UTR is an alpha-globin 3′-UTR. 
     
     
       6. The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 1 , wherein the poly-A tail is at least 160 nucleotides in length. 
     
     
       7. The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 1 , wherein, upon administration to a mammalian cell, the mRNA has increased expression of the encoded polypeptide relative to a corresponding mRNA comprising an open reading frame consisting of nucleotides including uracil, cytosine, adenine, and guanine. 
     
     
       8. The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 1 , wherein, upon administration to a mammalian cell, the mRNA has a longer half-life or greater area under the curve of protein expression relative to a corresponding mRNA comprising an open reading frame consisting of nucleotides including uracil, cytosine, adenine, and guanine. 
     
     
       9. The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 2 , wherein the biodegradable cationic lipid comprises an ester linkage. 
     
     
       10. The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 9 , wherein the biodegradable cationic lipid comprises DLin-DMA with an internal ester, DLin-DMA with a terminal ester, DLin-MC3-DMA with an internal ester, or DLin-MC3-DMA with a terminal ester. 
     
     
       11. The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of lipid nanoparticles has a mean PDI of between 0.02 and 0.2. 
     
     
       12. The pharmaceutical composition of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of lipid nanoparticles has a mean lipid to polynucleotide ratio (wt/wt) of between 10 and 20.