Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Vaccines Against COVID-19
Published in Hanadi Talal Ahmedah, Muhammad Riaz, Sagheer Ahmed, Marius Alexandru Moga, The Covid-19 Pandemic, 2023
Majid Khan, Muhammad Faheem, Najmur Rahman, Rizwan Ahmad, M. Zia-Ul-Haq, Muhammad Ria
Messenger RNA vaccines are quickly developing technologies to mitigate infectious illnesses. This type of vaccine contains mRNAs encoding and translated by vaccination into the host cellular machinery. mRNA vaccines are more advantageous over traditional vaccines by lack of genome integration, modification of immune responses, fast evolution, and the presence of multimeric antigen. Moderna began clinical trials for messenger RNA vaccines with encoding viral S proteins of SARS. The NIAID financially supported this project.
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)
Published in Ken Addley, MCQs, MEQs and OSPEs in Occupational Medicine, 2023
Messenger RNA vaccines consist of genetic material (mRNA) that instructs the recipient’s antigen-presenting cells to make the identified antigen, thus stimulating an immune response against the virus. For SARS-CoV-2, which one of the following statements does NOT fit?
Genetics and exercise: an introduction
Published in Adam P. Sharples, James P. Morton, Henning Wackerhage, Molecular Exercise Physiology, 2022
Claude Bouchard, Henning Wackerhage
How is a gene “read” to produce a protein? Francis Crick wrote in 1956 something in his notebook which he called the “central dogma”. Today, this unpublished notion is widely known as the central dogma of molecular biology. It describes how the biological information flows in the “DNA → RNA → protein” direction. According to the dogma, DNA is equivalent to the instructions for the book of life. RNA is very similar to DNA, but it is single-stranded, whereas DNA is double-stranded (i.e. the double helix), and the sugar in RNA is a ribose, whereas the sugar in DNA is a deoxyribose. Also known as “messenger” RNA (mRNA), the RNA copies and delivers the DNA “message” to the protein-making machinery of the cell (in the ribosome) to make the protein. The making or synthesis of RNA from DNA is termed transcription (RNA synthesis also described as gene expression) and the process of protein synthesis from RNA is termed translation. Figure 3.7 illustrates Crick’s central dogma. It is important considering recent advances in molecular biology to recognise that the central dogma is incomplete and that there are exceptions to the dogma.
Negatively charged phospholipids doped liposome delivery system for mRNA with high transfection efficiency and low cytotoxicity
Published in Drug Delivery, 2023
Lin Wang, Huanchun Xing, Shuai Guo, Wenbin Cao, Zinan Zhang, Lijuan Huang, Sui Xin, Yuan Luo, Yongan Wang, Jun Yang
Messenger RNA (mRNA) can be used to treat diseases by allowing cellular translation of the proteins they encode, and they are currently some of the most promising drugs in development (To & Cho, 2021; Webb et al., 2022). Translation of mRNA occurs in the cytoplasm without entering the nucleus compared with DNA drugs which have the risk of integration into the genome, leading to much safer (Schlake et al., 2012; Anthony, 2022). Unfortunately, naked mRNA is extremely fragile and easily degraded by a variety of biological enzymes because of its long, single-stranded structure (Eygeris et al., 2022). Moreover, it is extremely difficult for negatively charged mRNAs to penetrate the cell membrane (Koynova & Tenchov, 2011; Durymanov & Reineke, 2018). Even in cells, mRNA needs to be effective against lysosomal destruction (Forster Iii et al., 2022). Therefore, an effective mRNA delivery system is essential to maintaining stable mRNA structure and ensuring effective transfection (Ramachandran et al., 2022).
Regulation of flagellar motility and biosynthesis in enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7
Published in Gut Microbes, 2022
Hongmin Sun, Min Wang, Yutao Liu, Pan Wu, Ting Yao, Wen Yang, Qian Yang, Jun Yan, Bin Yang
In addition to transcriptional regulation, post-transcriptional and post-translational regulation play a key role in coordinating flagellar gene expression networks.72 Post-transcriptional regulation is highly versatile and adaptable; it controls RNA availability in cellular time and space.90 Messenger RNA stability, transport, storage, and translation are largely determined by the interaction of mRNA with post-transcriptional regulatory proteins and sRNAs.91,92 Post-translational regulation controls the biochemical alteration of proteins involving generally reversible covalent modification or irreversible processing to regulate their activity, location, or stability.93,94 Post-transcriptional and post-translational regulatory proteins known to regulate EHEC O157:H7 motility and flagellar biosynthesis include CsrA, ClpXP, and Hfq (Figure 6 and Table 1).
Layer-by-Layer technique as a versatile tool for gene delivery applications
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 2021
Dmitrii S. Linnik, Yana V. Tarakanchikova, Mikhail V. Zyuzin, Kirill V. Lepik, Joeri L. Aerts, Gleb Sukhorukov, Alexander S. Timin
Messenger RNA (mRNA) is a biomolecule that mediates the translation of genetic information from genes encoded in DNA to proteins located throughout the cell. The physical and biological characteristics of mRNA allowed its use as a safe genetic material for gene-based therapy approaches, because mRNA, in contrast to DNA, does not require nuclear localization for gene expression and provides rapid protein expression, including in hard-to-transfect cells such as T cells, dendritic cells, and hematopoietic stem cells [102]. Therefore, mRNA is of great interest in immunotherapy application. Development of novel therapeutic methods based on mRNA has been limited due to its instability in ambient conditions. Thus, an intravenous injection of unmodified mRNA without a delivery material leads to rapid mRNA degradation by ribonucleases and can activate the immune system. Viral vectors have been widely used for delivery of mRNA but possess potential immunologic side effects and toxicities. Non-viral strategies such as electroporation, gene gun, and sonoporation offer a better perspective for mRNA delivery, however, they also have certain limitations.