Lobachevsky University scientists work to develop mRNA platform for cancer vaccines

Lobachevsky University became the winner of a competition held jointly by the Nizhny Novgorod Research and Education Centre and Madin Group of Companies in the field of high-tech personalised medicine. Scientists from the UNN Institute of Biology and Biomedicine and the Faculty of Chemistry presented a project to develop an mRNA platform for cancer vaccines as part of novel nanocontainers. The platform can be used to create personalised vaccines and drugs that can change the tumour microenvironment.

“The idea is that a particular genetic material is introduced into the tumour by means of a special molecule that encodes certain genes. These may be genes that stimulate the immune system to mount an anti-tumour response. If the expression of the genes is successful, the tumour begins to degrade under the action of its own immunity,” said Maria Vedunova, Director of the UNN Institute of Biology and Biomedicine.

One more task facing the project team is to develop a system for packaging and delivering the required material to the tumour.

“The necessary RNA molecule degrades very quickly in the human body. To ensure that it gets into the tumour and, in some cases, into the cells of the immune system, a special delivery system is required. Biologists are working to develop such an RNA platform, while chemists are working on a delivery method. We hope that our research will result in new anti-tumour agents for the Russian market,” Maria Vedunova  added.  

The university will receive 20 million roubles for the development of this project as a result of its victory in the competition. The funds will be provided in equal shares by the Research and Education Centre and the industry partner.