Messenger RNA-Based Vaccines Against Infectious Diseases
Abstract
In vitro-transcribed, messenger RNA-based infectious disease vaccines have the potential to successfully address many of the weaknesses of traditional vaccine platforms, such as the lack of potency and/or durability of vaccine protection, time-consuming, and expensive manufacturing, and, in some cases, safety issues. This optimism is fueled by a great deal of impressive recent data demonstrating that mRNA vaccines have many of the attributes that are necessary for a viable new vaccine class for human use. This review briefly describes mRNA vaccine types, discusses the most relevant and recent publications on infectious disease mRNA vaccines, and highlights the hurdles that need to be overcome to bring this promising novel vaccine modality to the clinic.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Upscaling of cell-free vaccine production is relatively straightforward, providing a cutting-edge tool for rapid response in epidemics and pandemics.
“Furthermore, the upscaling of cell-free vaccine production is relatively straightforward, thereby providing a cutting-edge tool for rapid response in epidemics and pandemics.4, 5, 6, 7”
From COVID-19 mRNA vaccines: Platforms and current developments (2022) · cites this paper as [4]
The success of mRNA vaccines in the COVID-19 vaccine race emphasized the promising potential of this technology in a wide variety of future applications, including other infectious diseases, cancer therapy, and protein replacement therapies.
“The success of mRNA vaccines in the COVID-19 vaccine race emphasized the promising potential of this technology in a wide variety of future applications,176,177 including other infectious diseases,4 cancer therapy,178,179 and protein replacement therapies,180,181”
From COVID-19 mRNA vaccines: Platforms and current developments (2022) · cites this paper as [4]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Principles of nanoparticle design for overcoming biological barriers to drug delivery
Blanco, E., Shen, H., & Ferrari, M. (2015) · Nature Biotechnology · doi:10.1038/nbt.3330 · Cited by 7,002 · see citing works
mRNA vaccines — a new era in vaccinology
Pardi, N., Hogan, M. J., Porter, F. W., & Weissman, D. (2018) · Nature Reviews Drug Discovery · doi:10.1038/nrd.2017.243 · Cited by 4,667 · see citing works
Self-citationDirect Gene Transfer into Mouse Muscle in Vivo
Wolff, J. A., Malone, R. W., Williams, P., Chong, W., Acsadi, G., Jani, A., & Felgner, P. L. (1990) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1690918 · Cited by 4,173 · see citing works
Karikó, K., Buckstein, M., Ni, H., & Weissman, D. (2005) · Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2005.06.008 · Cited by 2,728 · see citing works
Self-citationmRNA-based therapeutics--developing a new class of drugs
Sahin, U., Karikó, K., & Türeci, Ö. (2014) · Nature Reviews Drug Discovery · doi:10.1038/nrd4278 · Cited by 2,474 · see citing works
Karikó, K., Muramatsu, H., Welsh, F. A., Ludwig, J., Kato, H., Akira, S., & Weissman, D. (2008) · Molecular Therapy · doi:10.1038/mt.2008.200 · Cited by 1,930 · see citing works
Self-citationRational design of cationic lipids for siRNA delivery
Semple, S. C., Akinc, A., Chen, J., Sandhu, A. P., Mui, B. L., Cho, C. K., Sah, D. W. Y., Stebbing, D., Crosley, E. J., Yaworski, E., et al. (2010) · Nature Biotechnology · doi:10.1038/nbt.1602 · Cited by 1,822 · see citing works
Delivery materials for siRNA therapeutics
Kanasty, R., Dorkin, J. R., Vegas, A., & Anderson, D. (2013) · Nature Materials · doi:10.1038/nmat3765 · Cited by 1,800 · see citing works
Broad neutralization coverage of HIV by multiple highly potent antibodies
Walker, L. M., Huber, M., Doores, K. J., Falkowska, E., Pejchal, R., Julien, J.-P., Wang, S.-K., Ramos, A., Chan-Hui, P.-Y., Moyle, M., et al. (2011) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature10373 · Cited by 1,480 · see citing works
Optimization of lipid nanoparticles for intramuscular administration of mRNA vaccines
Hassett, K. J., Benenato, K. E., Jacquinet, E., Lee, A., Woods, A., Yuzhakov, O., Himansu, S., Deterling, J., Geilich, B. M., Ketova, T., et al. (2019) · Molecular Therapy — Nucleic Acids · doi:10.1016/j.omtn.2019.01.013 · Cited by 927 · see citing works
Sabnis, S., Kumarasinghe, E. S., Salerno, T., Mihai, C., Ketova, T., Senn, J. J., Lynn, A., Bulychev, A., McFadyen, I., Chan, J., et al. (2018) · Molecular Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.ymthe.2018.03.010 · Cited by 820 · see citing works
Tools for translation: non-viral materials for therapeutic mRNA delivery
Hajj, K. A., & Whitehead, K. A. (2017) · Nature Reviews Materials · doi:10.1038/natrevmats.2017.56 · Cited by 799 · see citing works
Visualizing lipid-formulated siRNA release from endosomes and target gene knockdown
Wittrup, A., Ai, A., Liu, X., Hamar, P., Trifonova, R., Charisse, K., Manoharan, M., Kirchhausen, T., & Lieberman, J. (2015) · Nature Biotechnology · doi:10.1038/nbt.3298 · Cited by 693 · see citing works
Delivery technologies for genome editing
Yin, H., Kauffman, K. J., & Anderson, D. G. (2017) · Nature Reviews Drug Discovery · doi:10.1038/nrd.2016.280 · Cited by 597 · see citing works
Pardi, N., Hogan, M. J., Naradikian, M. S., Parkhouse, K., Cain, D. W., Jones, L., Moody, M. A., Verkerke, H. P., Myles, A., Willis, E., et al. (2018) · Journal of Experimental Medicine · doi:10.1084/jem.20171450 · Cited by 530 · see citing works
Self-citationThess, A., Grund, S., Mui, B. L., Hope, M. J., Baumhof, P., Fotin-Mleczek, M., & Schlake, T. (2015) · Molecular Therapy · doi:10.1038/mt.2015.103 · Cited by 513 · see citing works
Induction of virus‐specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes <i>in vivo</i> by liposome‐entrapped mRNA
Martinon, F., Krishnan, S., Lenzen, G., Magné, R., Gomard, E., Guillet, J., Lévy, J., & Meulien, P. (1993) · European Journal of Immunology · doi:10.1002/eji.1830230749 · Cited by 473 · see citing works
V <scp>ENEZUELAN</scp> E <scp>QUINE</scp> E <scp>NCEPHALITIS</scp>
Weaver, S. C., Ferro, C., Barrera, R., Boshell, J., & Navarro, J.-C. (2004) · Annual Review of Entomology · doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.49.061802.123422 · Cited by 465 · see citing works
Feldman, R. A., Fuhr, R., Smolenov, I., (Mick) Ribeiro, A., Panther, L., Watson, M., Senn, J. J., Smith, M., Almarsson, Ӧ., Pujar, H. S., et al. (2019) · Vaccine · doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.04.074 · Cited by 454 · see citing works
Pardi, N., Secreto, A. J., Shan, X., Debonera, F., Glover, J., Yi, Y., Muramatsu, H., Ni, H., Mui, B. L., Tam, Y. K., et al. (2017) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms14630 · Cited by 352 · see citing works
Self-citationFotin-Mleczek, M., Duchardt, K. M., Lorenz, C., Pfeiffer, R., Ojkić-Zrna, S., Probst, J., & Kallen, K.-J. (2011) · Journal of Immunotherapy · doi:10.1097/cji.0b013e3181f7dbe8 · Cited by 335 · see citing works
Kreiter, S., Selmi, A., Diken, M., Koslowski, M., Britten, C. M., Huber, C., Türeci, Ö., & Sahin, U. (2010) · Cancer Research · doi:10.1158/0008-5472.can-10-0699 · Cited by 309 · see citing works
Vaidyanathan, S., Azizian, K. T., Haque, A. K. M. A., Henderson, J. M., Hendel, A., Shore, S., Antony, J. S., Hogrefe, R. I., Kormann, M. S. D., Porteus, M. H., et al. (2018) · Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids · doi:10.1016/j.omtn.2018.06.010 · Cited by 262 · see citing works
Unmodified mRNA in LNPs constitutes a competitive technology for prophylactic vaccines
Lutz, J., Lazzaro, S., Habbeddine, M., Schmidt, K. E., Baumhof, P., Mui, B. L., Tam, Y. K., Madden, T. D., Hope, M. J., Heidenreich, R., et al. (2017) · npj Vaccines · doi:10.1038/s41541-017-0032-6 · Cited by 257 · see citing works
Pollard, C., Rejman, J., De Haes, W., Verrier, B., Van Gulck, E., Naessens, T., De Smedt, S., Bogaert, P., Grooten, J., Vanham, G., et al. (2013) · Molecular Therapy · doi:10.1038/mt.2012.202 · Cited by 248 · see citing works
A novel, disruptive vaccination technology: Self-adjuvanted RNActive <sup>®</sup> vaccines
Kallen, K.-J., Heidenreich, R., Schnee, M., Petsch, B., Schlake, T., Thess, A., Baumhof, P., Scheel, B., Koch, S. D., & Fotin-Mleczek, M. (2013) · Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics · doi:10.4161/hv.25181 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
Schnee, M., Vogel, A. B., Voss, D., Petsch, B., Baumhof, P., Kramps, T., & Stitz, L. (2016) · PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases · doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0004746 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
Abrams, M. T., Koser, M. L., Seitzer, J., Williams, S. C., DiPietro, M. A., Wang, W., Shaw, A. W., Mao, X., Jadhav, V., Davide, J. P., et al. (2010) · Molecular Therapy · doi:10.1038/mt.2009.208 · Cited by 209 · see citing works
Pepini, T., Pulichino, A.-M., Carsillo, T., Carlson, A. L., Sari-Sarraf, F., Ramsauer, K., Debasitis, J. C., Maruggi, G., Otten, G. R., Geall, A. J., et al. (2017) · The Journal of Immunology · doi:10.4049/jimmunol.1601877 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Nanoscale platforms for messenger RNA delivery
Li, B., Zhang, X., & Dong, Y. (2019) · WIREs Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology · doi:10.1002/wnan.1530 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
mRNA mediates passive vaccination against infectious agents, toxins, and tumors
Thran, M., Mukherjee, J., Pönisch, M., Fiedler, K., Thess, A., Mui, B. L., Hope, M. J., Tam, Y. K., Horscroft, N., Heidenreich, R., et al. (2017) · EMBO Molecular Medicine · doi:10.15252/emmm.201707678 · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Lindgren, G., Ols, S., Liang, F., Thompson, E. A., Lin, A., Hellgren, F., Bahl, K., John, S., Yuzhakov, O., Hassett, K. J., et al. (2017) · Frontiers in Immunology · doi:10.3389/fimmu.2017.01539 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
An mRNA Vaccine Protects Mice against Multiple Tick-Transmitted Flavivirus Infections
VanBlargan, L. A., Himansu, S., Foreman, B. M., Ebel, G. D., Pierson, T. C., & Diamond, M. S. (2018) · Cell Reports · doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2018.11.082 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
A thermostable messenger RNA based vaccine against rabies
Stitz, L., Vogel, A., Schnee, M., Voss, D., Rauch, S., Mutzke, T., Ketterer, T., Kramps, T., & Petsch, B. (2017) · PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases · doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0006108 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Characterization of HIV-1 Nucleoside-Modified mRNA Vaccines in Rabbits and Rhesus Macaques
Pardi, N., LaBranche, C. C., Ferrari, G., Cain, D. W., Tombácz, I., Parks, R. J., Muramatsu, H., Mui, B. L., Tam, Y. K., Karikó, K., et al. (2019) · Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids · doi:10.1016/j.omtn.2019.03.003 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Self-citationIntradermal Electroporation of Naked Replicon RNA Elicits Strong Immune Responses
Johansson, D. X., Ljungberg, K., Kakoulidou, M., & Liljeström, P. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029732 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Moyo, N., Vogel, A. B., Buus, S., Erbar, S., Wee, E. G., Sahin, U., & Hanke, T. (2019) · Molecular Therapy - Methods & Clinical Development · doi:10.1016/j.omtm.2018.10.010 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Melo, M., Porter, E., Zhang, Y., Silva, M., Li, N., Dobosh, B., Liguori, A., Skog, P., Landais, E., Menis, S., et al. (2019) · Molecular Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.ymthe.2019.08.007 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Samsa, M. M., Dupuy, L. C., Beard, C. W., Six, C. M., Schmaljohn, C. S., Mason, P. W., Geall, A. J., Ulmer, J. B., & Yu, D. (2019) · Molecular Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.ymthe.2018.12.013 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Alameh, M.-G., Tombácz, I., Bettini, E., Lederer, K., Ndeupen, S., Sittplangkoon, C., Wilmore, J. R., Gaudette, B. T., Soliman, O. Y., Pine, M., et al. (2021) · Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.immuni.2021.11.001 · Cited by 775 · see citing works
Self-citationA thermostable mRNA vaccine against COVID-19
Zhang, N.-N., Li, X.-F., Deng, Y.-Q., Zhao, H., Huang, Y.-J., Yang, G., Huang, W.-J., Gao, P., Zhou, C., Zhang, R.-R., et al. (2020) · Cell · doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.07.024 · Cited by 671 · see citing works
“To date, clinical trials for mRNA vaccines against viral diseases, including Zika, Ebola, influenza, rabies, and cytomegalovirus infection, have been carried out in many countries (Alameh et al., 2020).”
Ndeupen, S., Qin, Z., Jacobsen, S., Bouteau, A., Estanbouli, H., & Igyártó, B. Z. (2021) · iScience · doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.103479 · Cited by 678 · see citing works
Nanomaterial Delivery Systems for mRNA Vaccines
Buschmann, M. D., Carrasco, M. J., Alishetty, S., Paige, M., Alameh, M. G., & Weissman, D. (2021) · Vaccines · doi:10.3390/vaccines9010065 · Cited by 582 · see citing works
Self-citationD614G Spike Mutation Increases SARS CoV-2 Susceptibility to Neutralization
Weissman, D., Alameh, M.-G., de Silva, T., Collini, P., Hornsby, H., Brown, R., LaBranche, C. C., Edwards, R. J., Sutherland, L., Santra, S., et al. (2021) · Cell Host & Microbe · doi:10.1016/j.chom.2020.11.012 · Cited by 324 · see citing works
Self-citationCOVID-19 mRNA vaccines: Platforms and current developments
Szabó, G. T., Mahiny, A. J., & Vlatkovic, I. (2022) · Molecular Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.ymthe.2022.02.016 · Cited by 308 · see citing works
Chen, G.-L., Li, X.-F., Dai, X.-H., Li, N., Cheng, M.-L., Huang, Z., Shen, J., Ge, Y.-H., Shen, Z.-W., Deng, Y.-Q., et al. (2022) · The Lancet Microbe · doi:10.1016/s2666-5247(21)00280-9 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
- Authors
- Alameh, M.-G., Weissman, D., & Pardi, N.
- Affiliations
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Corresponding author
- Weissman, Drew
- Venue
- Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology
- Publisher
- Springer International Publishing
- Published
- 2020
- Volume
- 440
- Pages
- 111-145
- ISSN
- 0070-217X (ISSN-L)
- 2196-9965
- OpenAlex
- W3016350657
- Cited by
- 96
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 8
- FWCI
- 21.32
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Current topics in microbiology and immunology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immunotherapy and Immune Responses
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA Interference and Gene Delivery
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Keywords
- mRNA vaccines, infectious disease vaccines, in vitro transcription, vaccine durability, vaccine potency, vaccine production, vaccine safety, clinical translation, vaccine adjuvants
- MeSH terms
- Communicable Diseases, Humans, RNA, Messenger, Vaccines, Synthetic
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review