mRNA技术应对病毒传染病的研究进展

信使核糖核酸(messenger RNA,mRNA)疫苗和抗体是近年来兴起的一种新型疫苗和抗体技术。与传统疫苗相比,mRNA疫苗具有安全性高、均衡免疫性好、研发周期短、生产成本低等优势,mRNA抗体比其他形式递送的抗体在体内发挥生物学效应的时间更早也更持久。随着mRNA修饰与递送技术的快速发展,mRNA技术迅速走向成熟,在肿瘤治疗、病毒传染疾病的预防和治疗等方面展现出广阔的应用前景,特别是新型冠状病毒mRNA疫苗以创纪录的速度完成研发并成功应用,为未来mRNA技术的推广铺平了道路。本文综述了mRNA技术领域的重要突破,重点关注mRNA疫苗和抗体在应对病毒传染病中的重大进展,并展望了未来该技术在抗病毒感染领域的研究趋势。     

mRNA疫苗的开发及临床研究进展

随着mRNA稳定性和安全高效的递送系统的研究日渐成熟,近年来,mRNA疫苗在肿瘤个体化疫苗中取得了较大进展,因其生产工艺简单、在细胞内表达抗原、安全性优于DNA疫苗等特点,是一种很有前途的新型疫苗。为了解全球mRNA疫苗的开发与研究现状,在此重点对mRNA疫苗的分子设计、递送系统、临床研究现状进行了分析和综述,为后续mRNA疫苗的开发和研究提供参考依据。     

mRNA疫苗在疾病预防与治疗中的研究进展与展望

基于信使RNA(messenger RNA, mRNA)的核酸疫苗是近年来兴起的一种mRNA技术。mRNA疫苗比传统疫苗有许多优点,能够实现快速、经济、高效的生产。单个mRNA疫苗可以编码多种抗原,增强对特定病原体的免疫反应,提高疾病的治疗效率,以单一配方针对多种病原微生物或疾病。mRNA疫苗相关技术在新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情防控中被视作一种革命性的疫苗技术,以创纪录的速度完成研发并成功应用。由于mRNA自身稳定性差,新型递送系统的开发与应用至关重要。随着mRNA相关药理学的深入研究,mRNA疫苗的临床应用进入了一个崭新的阶段。近年来。mRNA疫苗在传染性疾病预防、肿瘤治疗等方面获得充分发展并取得了一定的研究成果,对其进行概述并进行一定程度的展望。     

mRNA疫苗及其基于聚合物的递送系统研究进展

2019年,全球暴发了严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2型(severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2,SARS-CoV-2)疫情。由SARS-CoV-2引起的传染病(Corona Virus Disease 2019,COVID-19)具有极强的传染性及较高的病死率,对人类健康及经济发展造成了极大伤害。疫苗接种是预防和控制SARS-CoV-2传播的主要途径。信使RNA(mRNA)疫苗因具有制备简单、生产周期短、细胞毒性较小等优点而备受关注;最重要的是,mRNA容易实现量产,是应对突发疫情的重要手段之一。在此将对mRNA疫苗及其作用机制、递送载体以及给药方式等进行综述,旨在为mRNA疫苗研发工作提供参考。     

mRNA药物研究进展及市场应用分析

信使RNA(messenger RNA,mRNA)是一段编码蛋白质的核糖核苷酸序列,因为其进入细胞经翻译修饰后可以表达目的蛋白,所以mRNA分子可以作为药物治疗相应的疾病。mRNA药物用于治疗多种疾病,包括感染性疾病、肿瘤,以及由于缺少某种蛋白质或者某种蛋白质机能异常所引起的疾病,甚至作为基因编辑的工具参与基因治疗。mRNA分子作为疫苗用于预防感染性疾病已经在市场上取得了巨大的成功,因此其应用潜力得到了广泛的关注。由于mRNA药物应用方向广泛,且mRNA药物具有研发生产过程快、生产成本较低等优势,目前多种mRNA药物的相关研究正在进行中。就mRNA的基础结构、mRNA的递送系统、国内外mRNA药物的研究及临床进程进行综述,并对进一步广泛应用mRNA药物所面临的问题进行探讨。     

疫苗递送技术的研究进展

迄今为止疫苗在人类和动物传染性疾病的控制和预防中依然发挥着其他药物种类难以企及的重要作用。疫苗设计成功的基础在于有效地递送抗原物质以诱发强有力的保护性免疫反应,而疫苗递送载体的合理应用可以加强、改善、甚至改变抗原物质所诱发的免疫应答过程,从而带来优化疫苗接种效果,简化免疫接种程序等有益效果。目前研发中常用的疫苗递送载体可以分为生物载体(如病毒与细菌)与化学载体(如微针与脂质体)两类,在不同递送系统使用方面的重要考虑是有效地利用载体的装载能力和相应特性来达到理想的免疫效果。目前疫苗递送技术的快速进展为现代疫苗的发展提供了有力的技术支撑。     

荧光素酶mRNA的构建及电穿孔介导的mRNA体内表达特性北大核心CSCD

为构建一种非复制型mRNA平台并探究电穿孔介导的mRNA对小鼠健康状况的影响及蛋白的表达情况,以荧光素酶作为靶标基因,用T7 RNA聚合酶体外转录及酶法加帽加尾的策略制备mRNA,用活体基因导入仪通过电穿孔的方式体内递送mRNA,借助小动物活体成像系统观测荧光素酶蛋白在小鼠体内的表达强度和持续时间。结果表明,使用该非复制型mRNA平台得到的mRNA成功在体内外表达,电穿孔介导的mRNA对小鼠健康体征无明显影响,所有的小鼠均成功表达了荧光素酶蛋白,蛋白表达在电穿孔后第1天达到峰值,在第4天迅速下降,但蛋白表达强度和持续时间存在较大的小鼠个体间差异。研究对非复制型mRNA的构建及其应用于疫苗或肿瘤药物研发具有重要参考价值。     

mRNA疫苗：战胜新型冠状病毒感染的重要突破

2023年诺贝尔生理学或医学奖授予医学家卡塔琳·卡里科（Katalin Karikó）和德鲁·韦斯曼（Drew Weissman）,以表彰他们在核苷碱基修饰方面的发现,这些修饰的发现对于开发针对严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）的有效mRNA疫苗至关重要。疫苗接种是预防感染性疾病最经济最有效的措施。到目前为止,疫苗已经从灭活疫苗、重组蛋白疫苗进入到了第三代核酸疫苗。两位科学家的研究发现,掺入修饰碱基的体外转录mRNA可以逃避不良的免疫激活,解决了体外转录的mRNA过度引起炎症反应的问题;进一步的研究发现,含假尿苷的mRNA能更有效地进行翻译。同时 德鲁·韦斯曼对于递送系统的研究与发展也做出了重要贡献。新型冠状病毒感染（COVID-19）爆发后,以两位科学家的研究为基础,mRNA疫苗的研发技术体系被完善,在COVID-19疫情期间为人类抗击SARS-CoV-2起到非常重要的作用。本文介绍了疫苗发展的过程、mRNA疫苗中重要的核苷酸修饰和脂质纳米颗粒技术、针对SARS-CoV-2的mRNA疫苗以及技术发展的总结与展望。     

黏膜免疫与结核疫苗研发CSCD

结核病是全球重要的传染性疾病之一,在全球范围内保持着较高的发病率和死亡率。卡介苗是目前临床上唯一应用的结核疫苗,虽然对儿童有较好的保护作用,但对成人的免疫保护效果并不明显。研发新的结核疫苗对于结核病的防控具有重要的意义。由于结核病的致病菌结核分枝杆菌主要通过呼吸道传播,机体的黏膜成为抵御结核分枝杆菌的第一道防线。设计稳定高效的抗结核黏膜免疫疫苗是目前结核疫苗研究的新方向之一。选择合适的黏膜免疫途径、佐剂及抗原递送系统是黏膜疫苗研发成功的关键。本文对抗结核分枝杆菌的黏膜免疫应答作简短的概述,并重点阐明黏膜免疫在结核疫苗研发中的研究进展。     

近年来出现的几类新概念动物疫苗

动物疫病流行广泛、传播迅速,严重危害养殖业的发展。疫苗接种是预防和控制动物传染病最有效的策略之一。目前,随着生物技术的发展和疫病防控的需要,安全、高效、广谱、用量少、具有标记特征的新型疫苗成为研发重点。文中就近年来出现的黏膜疫苗、长效与速效疫苗、嵌合疫苗、纳米颗粒疫苗等新概念动物疫苗的发展、应用及优缺点进行了评述,并提出了其发展方向,以期为动物疫苗的研发提供借鉴。     

Transgenic plants for animal health: plant-made vaccine antigens for animal infectious disease control

A variety of plant species have been genetically modified to accumulate vaccine antigens for human and animal health and the first vaccine candidates are approaching the market. The regulatory burden for animal vaccines is less than that for human use and this has attracted the attention of researchers and companies, and investment in plant-made vaccines for animal infectious disease control is increasing. The dosage cost of vaccines for animal infectious diseases must be kept to a minimum, especially for non-lethal diseases that diminish animal welfare and growth, so efficient and economic production, storage and delivery are critical for commercialization. It has become clear that transgenic plants are an economic and efficient alternative to fermentation for large-scale production of vaccine antigens. The oral delivery of plant-made vaccines is particularly attractive since the expensive purification step can be avoided further reducing the cost per dose. This review covers the current status of plant-produced vaccines for the prevention of disease in animals and focuses on barriers to the development of such products and methods to overcome them.     

Beyond empiricism: informing vaccine development through innate immunity research

Although a great public heath success, vaccines provide suboptimal protection in some patient populations and are not available to protect against many infectious diseases. Insights from innate immunity research have led to a better understanding of how existing vaccines work and have informed vaccine development. New adjuvants and delivery systems are being designed based upon their capacity to stimulate innate immune sensors and target antigens to dendritic cells, the cells responsible for initiating adaptive immune responses. Incorporating these adjuvants and delivery systems in vaccines can beneficially alter the quantitative and qualitative nature of the adaptive immune response, resulting in enhanced protection.     

Risk in Vaccine Research and Development Quantified

To date, vaccination is the most cost-effective strategy to combat infectious diseases. Recently, a productivity gap affects the pharmaceutical industry. The productivity gap describes the situation whereby the invested resources within an industry do not match the expected product turn-over. While risk profiles (combining research and development timelines and transition rates) have been published for new chemical entities (NCE), little is documented on vaccine development. The objective is to calculate risk profiles for vaccines targeting human infectious diseases. A database was actively compiled to include all vaccine projects in development from 1998 to 2009 in the pre-clinical development phase, clinical trials phase I, II and III up to Market Registration. The average vaccine, taken from the preclinical phase, requires a development timeline of 10.71 years and has a market entry probability of 6%. Stratification by disease area reveals pandemic influenza vaccine targets as lucrative. Furthermore, vaccines targeting acute infectious diseases and prophylactic vaccines have shown to have a lower risk profile when compared to vaccines targeting chronic infections and therapeutic applications. In conclusion; these statistics apply to vaccines targeting human infectious diseases. Vaccines targeting cancer, allergy and autoimmune diseases require further analysis. Additionally, this paper does not address orphan vaccines targeting unmet medical needs, whether projects are in-licensed or self-originated and firm size and experience. Therefore, it remains to be investigated how these - and other - variables influence the vaccine risk profile. Although we find huge differences between the risk profiles for vaccine and NCE; vaccines outperform NCE when it comes to development timelines.     

Vaccine manufacturing: challenges and solutions

The recent influenza vaccine shortages have provided a timely reminder of the tenuous nature of the world's vaccine supply and the potential for manufacturing issues to severely disrupt vital access to important vaccines. The application of new technologies to the discovery, assessment, development and production of vaccines has the potential to prevent such occurrences and enable the introduction of new vaccines. Gene-based vaccines, virus-like particles, plant-derived vaccines and novel adjuvants and delivery systems represent promising approaches to creating safer, more potent vaccines. As a consequence, more people will have faster access to more effective vaccines against a broader spectrum of infectious diseases. However, the increased cost of producing new vaccines and regulatory uncertainty remain challenges for vaccine manufacturers.     

Historical Advances in Structural and Molecular Biology and How They Impacted Vaccine Development

Vaccines are among the greatest tools for prevention and control of disease. They have eliminated smallpox from the planet, decreased morbidity and mortality for major infectious diseases like polio, measles, mumps, and rubella, significantly blunted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and prevented viral induced cancers such as cervical cancer caused by human papillomavirus. Recent technological advances, in genomics, structural biology, and human immunology have transformed vaccine development, enabling new technologies such as mRNA vaccines to greatly accelerate development of new and improved vaccines. In this review, we briefly highlight the history of vaccine development, and provide examples of where advances in genomics and structural biology, paved the way for development of vaccines for bacterial and viral diseases.