This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A research team led by Director Kim V. Narry at the Center for RNA Research within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) has discovered compact viral RNA elements that can make mRNA more stable and increase protein production.
These elements could provide a simple way to develop longer-lasting and more efficient mRNA technologies for vaccines and other RNA-based therapeutics. The study, published in the journal Cell, also uncovered an unexpected mechanism by which viruses recruit cellular enzymes to protect their RNA from degradation. Messenger RNA (mRNA) carries genetic instructions that cells use to produce proteins.
By synthesizing mRNA that contains instructions for a desired protein and delivering it into cells, researchers can temporarily turn the cells into protein-producing factories. This principle enabled the development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and holds promise for a much wider range of applications, including cancer immunotherapy and treatments that replace proteins missing or insufficient in the body. One major limitation, however, is that mRNA is inherently short-lived.
Conventional mRNA is rapidly degraded inside cells, often limiting protein production to a relatively short period. A major factor determining its stability is the poly(A) tail, a stretch of adenine nucleotides at the end of the molecule. As this protective tail becomes shorter, the mRNA becomes increasingly vulnerable to degradation.
Viruses face a similar problem. To successfully reproduce inside host cells, they must keep their RNA intact long enough to produce the proteins they need. Over millions of years of evolution, viruses have developed diverse strategies to protect their RNA from degradation.
These viral survival mechanisms therefore represent a potentially rich source of naturally evolved tools for stabilizing therapeutic mRNA. The researchers divided genomes from 337 vertebrate-infecting viruses into nearly 200,000 short segments and tested how each affected mRNA abundance, translation and protein production. The screen revealed hundreds of viral RNA segments capable of enhancing gene expression.
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