Design and delivery of messenger RNA-based vaccines

Chantal Pichon (1) , Federico Perche (1)

1 CBM - Centre de biophysique moléculaire

In these last years, we are witnessing the emergence of a new class of biopharmaceuticals based on messenger RNA (mRNA). One of the most promising applications of mRNA is its use as vaccines. Many reports, including ours, have demonstrated the preclinical efficacy of mRNA vaccines. mRNA vaccines have several advantages over traditional vaccines or even DNA vaccines. Unlike attenuated or inactivated vaccines, mRNA encodes for a specific antigen that will be expressed in situ and stimulates both the innate immune system and an adaptive immunity to promote both humoral and cellular immune responses. The COVID-19 pandemic and search for rapid and adaptable vaccination strategies revealed the potential of messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccines providing a solution to the global crisis of our age. Amongst more than 180 vaccine platforms that have been proposed to tackle the SARS-Cov2 infection, those based on mRNA have been developed at unprecedented speed. This brought to light the required interplay between mRNA production and its intracellular delivery. Any antigenic protein can be encoded by mRNA allowing the development of preventive and therapeutic vaccines to fight against infections, cancer and allergies. Here, we present current knowledge regarding crucial aspects on mRNA structure, stability, formulations, cellular delivery and translation that should be considered when developing mRNA-based vaccines.

Domaines: Biochimie, Biologie Moléculaire

Chantal Pichon, Federico Perche. Design and delivery of messenger RNA-based vaccines. The Biochemist, 2021, 43 (4), ⟨10.1042/bio_2021_151⟩. ⟨hal-03364925⟩