This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The COVID vaccine is perhaps the first thing many people think of when they hear about mRNA-based drugs. Small packages of genetic material are sent into the body, prompting cells to produce useful proteins in the fight against the virus.
But the list of diseases that can potentially be treated with mRNA-based drugs is much broader than vaccines. mRNA is expected to be used to treat disorders including cardiovascular diseases, rare hereditary diseases and autoimmune diseases—and not least, cancer. "Almost all diseases we know are caused by some protein or another. Either there's too much protein, or too little, or the protein has a defect.
Proteins are encoded by mRNA. The potential for mRNA drugs is therefore enormous. They will be a very important tool," says researcher Sjoerd Hak from SINTEF's Department of Biotechnology and Nanomedicine.
Researchers at SINTEF have tried a new method that will make it easier to develop new forms of mRNA drugs. The research is published in the European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics. A major reason why so many drugs fail during testing is the big difference between humans and the animals used in preclinical testing.
What may look promising when tested in mice may have zero effect or even cause serious side effects when injected into a patient's bloodstream. One of the major challenges in the development of mRNA-based drugs is the way the mRNA is packaged. mRNA is unstable, and to be used as a drug, the small piece of genetic material must be packaged in small fat particles. In technical terms, these particles are called lipid nanoparticles, or simply LNPs.
Of all drugs that are tested in clinical trials on humans, 90% are not approved. Therefore, it is important to be able to identify the best drugs and weed out the bad candidates before you get to that point, says Hak. When the tiny particles are injected into the blood, the outer fatty layer binds to proteins in the blood plasma, and the nanoparticle encounters immune cells circulating in the blood.
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