Single Amino Acid Deletion at N-Terminus of the Target Antigen in DNA Vaccine Induces Altered CD8+ T Cell Responses against Tumor Antigen

Coding Therapeutic Nucleic Acids from Recombinant Proteins to Next-Generation Vaccines: Current Uses, Limitations, and Future Horizons

This study aims to highlight the potential use of cTNAs in therapeutic applications. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant use of coding therapeutic nucleic acids (cTNAs) in terms of DNA and mRNA in the development of vaccines. The use of cTNAs resulted in a paradigm shift in the therapeutic field. However, the injection of DNA or mRNA into the human body transforms cells into biological factories to produce the necessary proteins. Despite the success of cTNAs in the production of corona vaccines, they have several limitations such as instability, inability to cross biomembranes, immunogenicity, and the possibility of integration into the human genome. The chemical modification and utilization of smart drug delivery cargoes resolve cTNAs therapeutic problems. The success of cTNAs in corona vaccine production provides perspective for the eradication of influenza viruses, Zika virus, HIV, respiratory syncytial virus, Ebola virus, malaria, and future pandemics by quick vaccine design. Moreover, the progress cTNAs technology is promising for the development of therapy for genetic disease, cancer therapy, and currently incurable diseases.

Recent Advances in DNA Vaccines against Lung Cancer: A Mini Review

Lung cancer is regarded as the major causes of patient death around the world. Although the novel tumor immunotherapy has made great progress in the past decades, such as utilizing immune checkpoint inhibitors or oncolytic viruses, the overall 5-year survival of patients with lung cancers is still low. Thus, development of effective vaccines to treat lung cancer is urgently required. In this regard, DNA vaccines are now considered as a promising immunotherapy strategy to activate the host immune system against lung cancer. DNA vaccines are able to induce both effective humoral and cellular immune responses, and they possess several potential advantages such as greater stability, higher safety, and being easier to manufacture compared to conventional vaccination. In the present review, we provide a global overview of the mechanism of cancer DNA vaccines and summarize the innovative neoantigens, delivery platforms, and adjuvants in lung cancer that have been investigated or approved. Importantly, we highlight the recent advance of clinical studies in the field of lung cancer DNA vaccine, focusing on their safety and efficacy, which might accelerate the personalized design of DNA vaccine against lung cancer.