mRNA-based dendritic cell vaccines

Expert Rev Vaccines. 2015 Feb;14(2):161-76. doi: 10.1586/14760584.2014.957684. Epub 2014 Sep 8.

Abstract

Cancer immunotherapy has been proposed as a powerful treatment modality. Active immunotherapy aspires to stimulate the patient's immune system, particularly T cells. These cells can recognize and kill cancer cells and can form an immunological memory. Dendritic cells (DCs) are the professional antigen-presenting cells of our immune system. They take up and process antigens to present them to T cells. Consequently, DCs have been investigated as a means to stimulate cancer-specific T-cell responses. An efficient strategy to program DCs is the use of mRNA, a well-defined and safe molecule that can be easily generated at high purity. Importantly, vaccines consisting of mRNA-modified DCs showed promising results in clinical trials. Therefore, we will introduce cancer immunotherapy and DCs and give a detailed overview on the application of mRNA to generate cancer-fighting DC vaccines.

Keywords: cancer; cytotoxic T cell; dendritic cell; mRNA; tumor antigen.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Antigen Presentation
  • Antigens, Neoplasm / immunology*
  • Cancer Vaccines / immunology*
  • Dendritic Cells / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Immunologic Memory
  • Immunotherapy, Active*
  • Neoplasms / immunology*
  • Neoplasms / therapy
  • RNA, Messenger / immunology*
  • T-Lymphocytes / immunology

Substances

  • Antigens, Neoplasm
  • Cancer Vaccines
  • RNA, Messenger