At the Therapeutic Biomaterials Engineering Laboratory (TBEL) at KAIST, our research focuses on designing and engineering therapeutic materials that enhance treatment outcomes by leveraging the pathobiology of disease microenvironments.
Our long-term goal is to develop new classes of material-based therapies for incurable diseases and advance them to clinical applications. We conduct multidisciplinary research at the intersection of materials science, biology, and medicine.
1. Tissue-specific mRNA Delivery System
We are currently developing next-generation mRNA delivery platforms tailored for organ- and tissue-specific targeting. Our research focuses on engineering ionizable lipoplexes and lipid nanoparticles with enhanced permeability and biodistribution properties, enabling mRNA delivery to otherwise hard-to-reach tissues such as the nasal mucosa, brain, and lymph nodes.
In the respiratory field, we are optimizing mucosa-permeable, nanoscale lipoplexes for intranasal mRNA delivery. These carriers are being applied to therapeutic models including intranasal mRNA vaccination, antiviral therapy, and allergic airway inflammation.
For neurological applications, we are designing lipid nanoparticles that cross the blood-brain barrier via receptor-mediated transcytosis, coupled with precision mRNA engineering to achieve brain-specific protein expression while minimizing off-target effects in peripheral tissues.
We are also developing lymph node-targeting ionizable lipoplexes for intramuscular mRNA vaccination. These systems are designed to minimize hepatic expression and PEG-related adverse effects, providing a safer and more targeted immune response.
2. In Situ Cellular Engineering for Cancer Immunotherapy
We are developing in situ RNA delivery platforms to modulate diverse cell populations within the tumor microenvironment (TME), including immune cells, stromal cells, and even tumor cells themselves. By locally deliverying functional RNAs via lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), we aim to reprogram cellular behavior at the tumor site without the need for ex vivo manipulation, thereby transforming immunologically "cold" tumors into "hot", inflamed tumors responsive to immunotherapy.
This approach enables tailored modulation of various TME components: activating innate immune cells, reprogramming exhausted T cells, remodeling fibroblasts and extracellular matrix, and sensitizing tumor cells to immune attack. We utilize mRNA, siRNA, and combination strategies to enhance antigen presentation, relieve immune suppression, and facilitate immune cell infiltration and effector function.
Rather than targeting a single cell type, our goal is to orchestrate a coordinated, multi-cellular immune activation within the tumor by engineering the TME. This versatile platform has broad applications in cancer immunotherapy, including mRNA vaccines, CAR expression, checkpoint modulation, and stromal remodeling.