mRNA vaccination as a safe approach for specific protection from type I allergy

Abstract

Allergic diseases are on the increase and current therapies are lacking in efficacy and patient compliance. In recent years, the idea of prophylactic measures, especially for children at high risk for allergy, has become increasingly popular. This review summarizes the available preclinical data for protective allergy vaccines, with a focus on one of the most promising vaccine candidates; mRNA vaccines. Recently, mRNA vaccines have been rediscovered as an alternative to their more prominent counterparts, the DNA vaccines. Allergen-encoding mRNA vaccines elicit long-lasting protection from sensitization, and induce a type of immunity similar to the natural protective response that is acquired in the presence of microbial burden early in life. Owing to their excellent safety profile, they represent the ideal candidates for a vaccine that aims to protect at-risk children who have not yet been sensitized to allergens.

Keywords::

• allergy
• DNA vaccine
• hygiene hypothesis
• immune modulation
• mRNA vaccine
• prophylaxis
• replicon-based DNA
• self-replicating RNA
• vaccination

Acknowledgements

We thank all our colleagues and collaborators who have been involved in helpful discussions related to topics addressed in this manuscript.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

R Weiss and E Roesler have received research funding from Biomay AG, Vienna, Austria, and the Christian Doppler Research Association (CDG; Vienna, Austria); S Scheiblhofer and E Weinberger have received research funding from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF; Vienna, Austria) and J Thalhamer has received consulting fees from Biomay AG, and has received research funding from CDG and FWF. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.