Lipid Selection Shapes LNP Performance
Lipid composition and ratios are critical determinants of LNP performance, influencing cellular uptake, endosomal escape, biodistribution and tissue targeting. Selecting the right lipid components can therefore play a key role in optimising RNA delivery for your research application.
Explore selected lipids for passive organ targeting, enhanced cellular delivery and active tumor targeting beyond the liver, the predominant destination of many systemically administered LNPs.
Find the right lipid for your targeting strategy
Select your targeting approach and biological destination to explore relevant lipid options.
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Lipids for lung targeting
Passive targeting
| Organ | Lipid | Evidence & targeting profile |
|---|---|---|
| Lung | 113-N16B BP-44506 | Shown to specifically target the lungs in mice following i.v. injection, mainly targeting endothelial cells and, to a lesser extent, macrophages and epithelial cells. Qiu et al., PNAS, 2022 |
| 306-N16B BP-40862 | Shown to specifically target the lung in vivo following i.v. administration, with predominant targeting of endothelial cells. | |
| CP-LC-1073 | Developed to specifically target the lungs in mice following i.v. injection. Certest data – reference to be added | |
| Lipid 35 | Demonstrated high lung specificity, with little to no luciferase expression detected in the liver. Naidu et al., 2025 View publication → | |
| DOTAP | Inclusion of this cationic lipid in LNPs has been used to promote lung targeting as part of the SORT strategy. Cheng et al., Nature Nanotechnology, 2020 | |
| Spleen | 18PA 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphate | Inclusion of this lipid has been used to promote spleen targeting as part of the SORT strategy. Cheng et al., Nature Nanotechnology, 2020 |
| CP-LC-1405 | Developed to specifically target the spleen. Certest data – reference to be added | |
| Brain | NT1-O12B | Demonstrated the ability to cross the blood–brain barrier and reach the brain in vivo following i.v. administration. Ma et al., Science Advances, 2020 |
| NT1-O14B | Demonstrated the ability to cross the blood–brain barrier and reach the brain in vivo following i.v. administration. Ma et al., Science Advances, 2020 |
Enhanced delivery
| Lipid | Function |
|---|---|
| DSPE-PEG-R8 | Cell-penetrating peptide conjugates used to improve cellular uptake and transfection efficiency. |
| DSPE-PEG-TAT |
Active targeting
Tumour targeting| Lipid | Target receptor |
|---|---|
| DSPE-PEG-cRGD / iRGD | Integrins, often overexpressed in different types of cancer. |
| DSPE-PEG-Folate | Folate receptors |
| DSPE-PEG-T7 | Transferrin receptors |
| DSPE-PEG-GE11 | EGFR |
*This selection is not exhaustive. Additional lipid options are available depending on your delivery strategy and research application. Contact us.
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Lipid composition can influence LNP biodistribution
While ionizable lipids play a central role in RNA delivery, other LNP components can also influence tissue targeting and biodistribution. For example, changes in PEG-lipids, phospholipids and cholesterol derivatives have been reported to alter LNP distribution across organs.
DSG-PEG has been associated with increased spleen uptake (Liu et al., Molecular Therapy – Nucleic Acids, 2025), while DPPC has been reported to enhance lung targeting (Sun et al., 2026) and DSPC to support spleen targeting (Suzuki et al., Journal of Controlled Release, 2025). Replacing cholesterol with DC-cholesterol can also substantially alter LNP biodistribution (Goo et al., Journal of Controlled Release, 2026).
Careful selection of lipid components and their relative proportions is therefore important when designing an LNP formulation for a specific delivery objective.
*Non-exhaustive list. For any other options, please contact us.
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