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  • Review Article
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The landscape of mRNA nanomedicine

Nature Medicine volume 28, pages 2273–2287 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Messenger RNA (mRNA) is an emerging class of therapeutic agent for the prevention and treatment of a wide range of diseases. The recent success of the two highly efficacious mRNA vaccines produced by Moderna and Pfizer–BioNTech to protect against COVID-19 highlights the huge potential of mRNA technology for revolutionizing life science and medical research. Challenges related to mRNA stability and immunogenicity, as well as in vivo delivery and the ability to cross multiple biological barriers, have been largely addressed by recent progress in mRNA engineering and delivery. In this Review, we present the latest advances and innovations in the growing field of mRNA nanomedicine, in the context of ongoing clinical translation and future directions to improve clinical efficacy.

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Fig. 1: Challenges regarding the clinical use of mRNA.
Fig. 2: mRNA delivery vehicles.
Fig. 3: Innovations in mRNA engineering and delivery.

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Acknowledgements

We are supported by the US METAvivor Early Career Investigator Award (2018A020560 to W.T.), Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital Anesthesia Department Basic Scientist Grant (2420 BPA075 to W.T.), Khoury Innovation Award (2020A003219 to W.T.), Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation Breakthrough Award (113548 to W.T.), Nanotechnology Foundation (2022A002721 to W.T.), Farokhzad Family Distinguished Chair Foundation (018129 to W.T.) and American Heart Association Collaborative Sciences Award (2018A004190 to W.T.).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Xiangang Huang, Na Kong, Xingcai Zhang.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Nanomedicine and Department of Anesthesiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Xiangang Huang, Na Kong & Wei Tao

  2. Liangzhu Laboratory, Zhejiang University Medical Center, Hangzhou, China

    Na Kong

  3. School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Xingcai Zhang

  4. Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Yihai Cao

  5. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Robert Langer

  6. Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Robert Langer

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Huang, X., Kong, N., Zhang, X. et al. The landscape of mRNA nanomedicine. Nat Med 28, 2273–2287 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-02061-1

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