Lipid nanoparticle-based mRNA vaccines: a new frontier in precision oncology

Abstract

The delivery of lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-based mRNA therapeutics has captured the attention of the vaccine research community as an innovative and versatile tool for treating a variety of human malignancies. mRNA vaccines are now in the limelight as an alternative to conventional vaccines owing to their high precision, low-cost, rapid manufacture, and superior safety profile. Multiple mRNA vaccine platforms have been developed to target several types of cancer, and many have demonstrated encouraging results in animal models and human trials. The effectiveness of these new mRNA vaccines depends on the efficacy and stability of the antigen(s) of interest generated and the reliability of their delivery to antigen-presenting cells (APCs), especially dendritic cells (DCs). In this review, we provide a detailed overview of mRNA vaccines and their delivery strategies and consider future directions and challenges in advancing and expanding this promising vaccine platform to widespread therapeutic use against cancer.

Keywords

lipid nanoparticles / mRNA vaccines / cancer

Acknowledgements

We thank the current members of the Chen Laboratory for their critical discussion of this topic and Thomas Garvey for editing this manuscript. This work was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health (R01CA266510 to M.C.) and Department of Defense Prostate Cancer Research Program (W81XWH2010185 to M.C.). Images were created using BioRender.com.

Author contributions

M.C.: Conceptualization and Funding Acquisition; E.M.J. and M.C.: Writing-Original, Draft Preparation, Visualization, and Data Curation; E.M.J., J.H., and M.C.: Writing-Review & Editing. All authors have given final approval for the submission and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work. We have obtained the relevant permissions for BioRender (www.biorender.com) and used the correct permission text as required by the copyright holders.

Conflict of interest

J.H. reports advisory roles for or owns shares in the following companies: Amgen, Artera, Kingmed Diagnostics, MoreHealth, OptraScan, York Biotechnology, Genecode, Seagen Inc., and Sisu Pharma, and received grants from Zenith Epigenetics, BioXcel Therapeutics, Inc., Dracen Pharmaceuticals, and Fortis Therapeutics. The other authors have declared that no conflict of interest exists. As an Editorial Board Member of Precision Clinical Medicine, the corresponding author J.H. was blinded from reviewing and making decisions on this manuscript.

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