title: Protective efficacy of in vitro synthesized, specific mRNA vaccines against influenza A virus infection.
abstract: Despite substantial improvements, influenza vaccine production-and availability-remain suboptimal. Influenza vaccines based on mRNA may offer a solution as sequence-matched, clinical-grade material could be produced reliably and rapidly in a scalable process, allowing quick response to the emergence of pandemic strains. Here we show that mRNA vaccines induce balanced, long-lived and protective immunity to influenza A virus infections in even very young and very old mice and that the vaccine remains protective upon thermal stress. This vaccine format elicits B and T cell-dependent protection and targets multiple antigens, including the highly conserved viral nucleoprotein, indicating its usefulness as a cross-protective vaccine. In ferrets and pigs, mRNA vaccines induce immunological correlates of protection and protective effects similar to those of a licensed influenza vaccine in pigs. Thus, mRNA vaccines could address substantial medical need in the area of influenza prophylaxis and the broader realm of anti-infective vaccinology.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Immunology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Petsch
authors.forename: Margit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schnee
authors.forename: Annette B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Voss
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schlake
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thess
authors.forename: Karl-Josef
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kallen
authors.forename: Lothar
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stitz
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kramps
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D001709:Biotechnology; D056738:Cross Protection; D005260:Female; D005289:Ferrets; D006801:Humans; D009980:Influenza A virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D034421:Sus scrofa; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic