The clinical progress and challenges of mRNA vaccines

Abstract

Owing to the breakthroughs in the prevention and control of the COVID‐19 pandemic, messenger RNA (mRNA)‐based vaccines have emerged as promising alternatives to conventional vaccine approaches for infectious disease prevention and anticancer treatments. Advantages of mRNA vaccines include flexibility in designing and manipulating antigens of interest, scalability in rapid response to new variants, ability to induce both humoral and cell‐mediated immune responses, and ease of industrialization. This review article presents the latest advances and innovations in mRNA‐based vaccines and their clinical translations in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases or cancers. We also highlight various nanoparticle delivery platforms that contribute to their success in clinical translation. Current challenges related to mRNA immunogenicity, stability, and in vivo delivery and the strategies for addressing them are also discussed. Finally, we provide our perspectives on future considerations and opportunities for applying mRNA vaccines to fight against major infectious diseases and cancers.This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Infectious Disease Biology‐Inspired Nanomaterials > Lipid‐Based Structures

The potential of N2-modified cap analogues for precise genetic manipulation through mRNA engineering

“…Given global temperatures rise, melting glaciers releasing old pathogens or the increasing transmission of pathogens from animals to humans, the danger of new diseases emerging is high ( Alempic et al, 2023 ). Therapeutic mRNA molecule has brought new hope, as its production process is quick and easily adjustable for many different therapeutic applications ( Li et al, 2023 ; Yu et al, 2023 ). By changing the sequence, any protein of therapeutic interest can be obtained.…”