MRNA vaccines against the coronavirus include those developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. MRNA vaccines have been in development for the last thirty years however before the development of the coronavirus vaccine, no other mRNA vaccines had been approved for usage. MRNA vaccines involve using a piece of RNA to code for the spike proteins of the virus, once in the body of the person infected, compared to conventional vaccines which use weakened or inactive parts of the virus to trigger an immune response. The mRNA enters into the body in lipid nanoparticles particles (LNPs) which protect the mRNA from being broken down and destroyed by enzymes in the body. Once the LNPs containing the mRNA reach the cell, the mRNA is released into the cell and the ribosomes can code for amino acids that form the spike proteins which are the proteins on the outside of the virus that attach to receptors (like angiotensin-converting enzyme 2) to infect cells. Once the spike proteins enter into the body an immune response is triggered and the immune system behaves as if the virus has been entered into the body by releasing antibodies to fight the ‘virus’. The response helps train B-cells to become memory B-cells creating an adaptive immune response which makes the antibodies able to identify and immediately kill the virus if later infected.
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AuthorsSteven N. Fiering - GeiselSchool of Medicine, et al. “COVID-19 Vaccine
Frontrunners and Their Nanotechnology Design.” ACS Nano, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsnano.0c07197
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