{"title":"The Quest for mRNA Vaccines.","authors":"Eli Gilboa, David Boczkowski, Smita K Nair","doi":"10.1089/nat.2021.0103","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The success of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 is nothing short of a medical revolution. Given its chemical lability the use of mRNA as a therapeutic has been counterintuitive and met with skepticism. The development of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines was the culmination of long and painstaking efforts by many investigators spanning over 30 years and culminating with the seminal studies of Kariko and Weissman. This review will describe one chapter in this saga, studies that have shown that mRNA can function as a therapeutic. It started with our seminal observation that dendritic cells (DCs) transfected with mRNA <i>in vitro</i> administered to mice inhibits tumor growth, and led to first-in-human clinical trials with mRNA vaccines in cancer patients. The clinical development of this patient-specific DCs-mRNA approach and use on a larger scale was hindered by the challenges associated with personalized cell therapies. Confirmed and extended by many investigators, these studies did serve as impetus and motivation that led scientists to persevere, eventually leading to the development of simple, broadly applicable, and highly effective protocols of directly injecting mRNA into patients, culminating in the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.</p>","PeriodicalId":19412,"journal":{"name":"Nucleic acid therapeutics","volume":"32 6","pages":"449-456"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nucleic acid therapeutics","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1089/nat.2021.0103","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The success of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 is nothing short of a medical revolution. Given its chemical lability the use of mRNA as a therapeutic has been counterintuitive and met with skepticism. The development of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines was the culmination of long and painstaking efforts by many investigators spanning over 30 years and culminating with the seminal studies of Kariko and Weissman. This review will describe one chapter in this saga, studies that have shown that mRNA can function as a therapeutic. It started with our seminal observation that dendritic cells (DCs) transfected with mRNA in vitro administered to mice inhibits tumor growth, and led to first-in-human clinical trials with mRNA vaccines in cancer patients. The clinical development of this patient-specific DCs-mRNA approach and use on a larger scale was hindered by the challenges associated with personalized cell therapies. Confirmed and extended by many investigators, these studies did serve as impetus and motivation that led scientists to persevere, eventually leading to the development of simple, broadly applicable, and highly effective protocols of directly injecting mRNA into patients, culminating in the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.
期刊介绍:
Nucleic Acid Therapeutics is the leading journal in its field focusing on cutting-edge basic research, therapeutic applications, and drug development using nucleic acids or related compounds to alter gene expression. The Journal examines many new approaches for using nucleic acids as therapeutic agents or in modifying nucleic acids for therapeutic purposes including: oligonucleotides, gene modification, aptamers, RNA nanoparticles, and ribozymes.