During the past years, the mRNA-based therapy which is founded on the induction of the transient translation with the cell's ribosomes of fully functional proteins without integration into the host genome has become a potential drug for cancer immunotherapy and prophylactic vaccines. Compared with conventional gene therapy and protein substitution strategies, in vitro synthetic (IVT) mRNA has several advantages. However, the molecule's instability and immunogenicity caused by the lack of a cap structure at the 5' end and a long sequence of polyadenylate residue (poly(A) tail) at the 3' end hamper the development of mRNA therapeutics for many years. As the cap structure and the poly(A) tail of the mRNA greatly enhance the stability of natural mRNA, synthetically produced mRNA can also be modified to contain these structures. Using these modifications, the stability of synthetic mRNAs can be improved, immunogenicity can be reduced, and the translation efficiency can be increased.
","author_name":"Jerry Carter"}