Criteria for developing active cellular targeting miRNA oligonucleotide therapeutics with a peptide nucleic acid backbone: Combating cardiometabolic pandemics

Oligonucleotide therapeutics (ONTs) represent a growing new class of therapeutic agents aimed at addressing chronic diseases that remain untreatable by small molecules and antibodies. Our goal was to establish a selection of several criteria to design and develop miRNA-based ONTs, focusing on improved chemistry, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) profiles, and safety characteristics to combat cardiometabolic pandemics. By leveraging our own experimental data obtained from experiments involving miR-22-3p antagomirs and a careful review of the literature, we established a set of seven criteria to optimize the design of miRNA ONTs. These criteria prioritize simplified drug synthesis, optimized PK/PD properties, and reduced potential toxicities. This proposed set of seven criteria represents a novel strategy for developing active cellular targeting miRNA ONTs for various therapeutic indications.