Researchers at University College Dublin have discovered a previously unknown “courier system” that cells use to deliver coherent biological messages between each other, opening new possibilities for medicine and biotechnology.
These courier systems also possess ‘keys’ to natural (endogenous) gateways, allowing them to reach biological locations that are currently inaccessible in conventional delivery medicine.
“By gaining access to these natural gateways, it could be possible to ferry ‘toolkits’ of functional biomolecules, for example extended corrective messages, directly into previously inaccessible areas within cells, and across biological barriers, greatly improving the effectiveness and, importantly, the safety of RNA-, gene- and protein-based therapies,” said lead author Associate Professor Yan Yan, UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science.
In a new study, published in Nature Materials, a team based at UCD, led by researchers from the University’s Centre for BioNano Interactions (CBNI), discovered that when certain nanoparticles enter a cell, a small number undergo an unexpected transformation, acquiring a coating known as a “condensate corona”.
A dense, stable droplet, this coating is made from the cell’s own proteins and RNA, the molecules that control how cells operate and regulate themselves. Key to the discovery is that this coating carries a small biological programme.
As these messaging droplets were released from the cell, researchers were able to capture them in transit, before they delivered their messages to other cells, due to tiny magnets embedded inside them.
Because the messages remained intact during capture, it was possible to read and understand how they were transferred.
Once inside a new cell, the coating detaches and, crucially, escapes the cell’s degradation system with remarkable efficiency.
This allows the carried proteins and RNA to access the new target cell and integrate into its internal processes.
The researchers showed that these transferred molecules remain active, meaning they can directly influence how recipient cells function.
“We had long believed that there are natural couriers and gateways that allow special, very small particulates to communicate in organisms,” said lead author Professor Kenneth Dawson, CBNI Director.
Evidence has also grown that this messaging system, when it goes wrong, is key to promoting tumour metastasis. However, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack: there are so many different kinds of particulates in the body, it was hard to find how the useful ones work.”
Kenneth Dawson, University College Dublin
“With the prototype in our hands, we were able to break into these communications and understand how biological information is shared between cells. From there, we began to send our own messages via the same system.
“The findings provide a new blueprint for sending strategic and therapeutically effective biological messages to currently inaccessible locations in the body. That points towards a new concept of medicine that could reverse, rather than manage, currently intractable diseases.”
The study was led by Professor Kenneth Dawson, Director of CBNI, and Associate Professor Yan Yan, UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, in collaboration with other researchers based at UCD.
Adumeau, L., et al. (2026). Condensate corona–nanoparticle complexes transfer functional biomolecules between cells. Nature Materials. DOI: 10.1038/s41563-026-02534-5. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-026-02534-5.
