The effectiveness of mRNA vaccines and medications, such as those used to treat cancer, Covid-19, or other genetic diseases, will be significantly increased with even less dosage of the mRNAs, according to recent research from a team of synthetic biologists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
Since mRNA can be created to instruct cells to produce any type of protein, including antigens, enzymes, and hormones that are crucial for preventing infections and controlling bodily processes, mRNA is undoubtedly a preferred alternative for vaccines and the treatment of many different diseases.
However, mRNA medications and vaccines frequently require high dosages and repeated injections in order to produce enough protein in the body. Therefore, improving mRNA’s effectiveness, such as by increasing its protein production efficiency, is a hot topic among scientists because our immune system, for instance, could function better with more specific antibodies.
Now, a team led by Prof. Becki KUANG Yi, Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at HKUST, discovered a way that could enhance both the life span and efficiency of mRNA.
Having engineered different mRNA’s tail sequences, Prof. Kuang’s team eventually discovered optimized sequences that could produce 3 to 10 times as much proteins than unoptimized tail sequences commonly used for synthetic mRNAs on both human cells and on mice. The duration of protein production is also doubled.
Increasing the protein production of synthetic mRNA is generally beneficial to all mRNA drugs and vaccines. In collaboration with Sun Yat-Sen University, our team is now exploring the use of optimized tails for mRNA cancer vaccines on animals. We are also looking forward to collaborating with pharmaceutical companies to transfer this invention onto mRNA therapeutics and vaccines’ development pipelines to benefit society.
Professor Becki KUANG Yi
In addition to lowering the quantity and frequency of injections required for mRNA medications and vaccinations, this new method may also minimize treatment costs. It can also be combined with other mRNA enhancement technologies to increase protein synthesis in a synergistic manner.
“Increasing the protein production of synthetic mRNA is generally beneficial to all mRNA drugs and vaccines,” said Prof Kuang. “In collaboration with Sun Yat-Sen University, our team is now exploring the use of optimized tails for mRNA cancer vaccines on animals. We are also looking forward to collaborating with pharmaceutical companies to transfer this invention onto mRNA therapeutics and vaccines’ development pipelines to benefit society.”
The finding was recently published online in the journal of Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids.
Due to their success in defending against severe manifestations of some communicable diseases, such as COVID-19, and their tremendous potential for treating chronic diseases like cancer, mRNA medicines, and vaccines have received a lot of interest in recent years.
An earlier research has shown that the global mRNA therapeutics market size was valued at USD 39.90 billion last year and is expected to expand further in the coming decade.
