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Vaccines
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mRNA Vaccines: Pioneering the Future of Vaccination
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mRNA Vaccines: Pioneering the Future of Vaccination

A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X). This special issue belongs to the section "DNA and mRNA Vaccines".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 1612

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Zhongfeng Ye

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
Interests: covid; vaccine
Dr. Yu Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA
Interests: biomimetic materials; nanomedicine against cancers; neurological disorders
Dr. Minghui Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Surgery, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Interests: PET/CT; COVID-19; vaccine; vaccination
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Amid the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic, mRNA vaccines have risen to the occasion. While early IVT-mRNA was limited by instability, high immunogenicity, and poor translatability, current advances in mRNA synthesis have significantly enhanced antigen expression and protective immunity. Novel delivery vehicles such as lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have extended the intracellular lifetime of mRNA vaccines from minutes to weeks and are capable of targeted delivery to specific cell types, such as lymphocytes. The current mRNA-LNP platform will not only be useful to demonstrate the use of mRNA vaccines for combatting COVID-19, but also to establish the LNP-mRNA platform as robust and generalizable to early incurable infectious diseases, such as Ebola, polio, lupus, aids, Zika, etc.

The impact of mRNA vaccines on cancer and infectious disease remains in its preliminary stages. Trials in animal-based models and human individuals exhibit substantial differences in expression and immune response. The mechanisms of these vaccines in animal models and humans also require further investigation.

To achieve a more extensive understanding of the recent scientific knowledge and current trends in mRNA vaccine development, this Special issue is focused on the recent scientific and technical advances including, but not limited to, mRNA vaccines. Based on your extensive knowledge and experience, we invite you to contribute an original report, original observation or review.

Dr. Zhongfeng Ye
Dr. Yu Zhao
Dr. Minghui Yang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • mRNA vaccine
  • lipid nanoparticles (LNPs)
  • mRNA-LNP platform
  • infectious diseases
  • cancer
  • immune response

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 2724 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Human SARS CoV-2-Specific T-Cell Responses Elicited In Vitro by New Computationally Designed mRNA Immunogens (COVARNA)
by Ignasi Esteban, Carmen Pastor-Quiñones, Lorena Usero, Elena Aurrecoechea, Lorenzo Franceschini, Arthur Esprit, Josep Lluís Gelpí, Francisco Martínez-Jiménez, Núria López-Bigas, Karine Breckpot, Kris Thielemans, Lorna Leal, Carmen Elena Gómez, Marta Sisteré-Oró, Andreas Meyerhans, Mariano Esteban, María José Alonso, Felipe García and Montserrat Plana
Vaccines 2024, 12(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines12010015 - 22 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1068
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes and advances in the field of vaccination, including the implementation and widespread use of encapsidated mRNA vaccines in general healthcare practice. Here, we present two new mRNAs expressing antigenic parts of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes and advances in the field of vaccination, including the implementation and widespread use of encapsidated mRNA vaccines in general healthcare practice. Here, we present two new mRNAs expressing antigenic parts of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and provide data supporting their functionality. The first mRNA, called RBD-mRNA, encodes a trimeric form of the virus spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD). The other mRNA, termed T-mRNA, codes for the relevant HLA I and II spike epitopes. The two mRNAs (COVARNA mRNAs) were designed to be used for delivery to cells in combination, with the RBD-mRNA being the primary source of antigen and the T-mRNA working as an enhancer of immunogenicity by supporting CD4 and CD8 T-cell activation. This innovative approach substantially differs from other available mRNA vaccines, which are largely directed to antibody production by the entire spike protein. In this study, we first show that both mRNAs are functionally transfected into human antigen-presenting cells (APCs). We obtained peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples from three groups of voluntary donors differing in their immunity against SARS-CoV-2: non-infected (naïve), infected-recovered (convalescent), and vaccinated. Using an established method of co-culturing autologous human dendritic cells (hDCs) with T-cells, we detected proliferation and cytokine secretion, thus demonstrating the ability of the COVARNA mRNAs to activate T-cells in an antigen-specific way. Interestingly, important differences in the intensity of the response between the infected-recovered (convalescent) and vaccinated donors were observed, with the levels of T-cell proliferation and cytokine secretion (IFNγ, IL-2R, and IL-13) being higher in the vaccinated group. In summary, our data support the further study of these mRNAs as a combined approach for future use as a vaccine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue mRNA Vaccines: Pioneering the Future of Vaccination)
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