RNA Vaccines For Prevalent And Newly Emerging Diseases

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About this Research Topic

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Background

Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines have gained significant attention due to their successful application in the development of COVID-19 vaccines. mRNA-based vaccines, when combined with a powerful delivery system such as Lipid Nanoparticles (LNPs) have provided a new approach for developing and manufacturing vaccines that could potentially be adapted should a re-emerging or newly-emerging disease occurs. mRNA-based vaccines are now been developed in different modalities, such as self-replicating or non-replicated mRNA molecules; with the potential to be adapted to a whole range of vaccines against infectious diseases as well as for therapeutic vaccines.

It is clear that this emerging and fast-paced developing technology already offers several advantages over traditional vaccine approaches, including their ability to elicit strong and immune responses with limited side effects as well as the suitability to be rapidly produced should an outbreak or pandemic occurs. However, there are still many venues to actually improve such technology, such as the optimization of delivery systems, the stability of the mRNA itself, as well as their thermostability, being the latter a decisive factor for successful vaccine deployment across low-income and developing countries.

The goal of this Research Topic is to explore the potential of RNA vaccines for the prevention and control of prevalent and newly emerging infectious diseases. This Research Topic aims to bring together original research articles, reviews, and perspectives that cover the latest advances and challenges in the development and application of RNA vaccines.

We welcome submissions on the following themes related to RNA vaccines for prevalent and newly emerging diseases:

• Mechanisms of RNA vaccine-induced immune responses

• mRNA vaccine development and manufacturing strategies

• Optimisation of mRNA vaccine delivery and formulation technologies, including chemical modifications.

• Preclinical and clinical evaluations of mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases

• Induction of robust and sustained immune response elicited by mRNA vaccines

• mRNA vaccine- elicited immune responses across human populations and mRNA-personalised vaccines.

• mRNA vaccines for viral diseases, including influenza, Ebola, Zika, and others

• mRNA vaccines for bacterial diseases, including tuberculosis, meningitis, and others

• mRNA vaccines for parasitic diseases, including malaria, leishmaniasis, and others

• mRNA vaccines for emerging infectious diseases, including COVID-19 and its variants

• Perspectives and future directions for mRNA-based vaccines

By addressing the points above mentioned our ambition is to generate a diverse collection of papers that shall advance this exciting field and contribute to the better development and safety of more effective vaccines. We welcome original research articles, reviews, and perspectives.

Research articles should include hypothesis-driven research, results, and conclusions supported by data. Reviews should provide a critical overview of the current state-of-the-art in the field, including a summary of major findings and future directions. Perspectives should offer a thoughtful discussion of emerging concepts, technologies, and challenges in the field.

Keywords: mRNA vaccines, emerging infectious diseases, viral diseases, bacterial diseases, parasitic diseases, vaccine development, vaccine delivery, vaccine manufacturing, immune response, Lipid Nanoparticles, thermostability, chemical modifications.

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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