Lipid 15 is the lead ionizable cationic lipid (ICL) for CD8-targeted mRNA-LNPs. As the core LNP component, Lipid 15 yields ~100 nm uniform particles with near-neutral surface charge at physiological pH, while becoming strongly cationic in acidic endosomes—reducing hepatic off-target uptake and enabling efficient endosomal escape to release mRNA. Versus other ICL candidates, Lipid 15 achieves far higher mRNA transfection efficiency in primary human CD8⁺ T cells, supports robust transient CAR expression, and triggers minimal cytokine release in immunogenicity assays. It retains structural and functional stability after freeze storage. When formulated into anti-CD8 VHH-conjugated LNPs carrying CD22 CAR mRNA, Lipid 15 drives specific in vivo reprogramming of circulating CD8⁺ T cells into functional CAR-T cells, delivering potent tumor suppression in humanized hematological malignancy models without overt toxicity.
