mRNA technologies and development.
BASE scientists have experience in the discovery and development of mRNA medicines. We can provide end-to-end research services for pre-clinical development of mRNA, including;
BASE scientists have built mRNAs for a wide range of applications, including antigens, enzymes, peptides, antibodies, gene-, and cell-therapies.
A challenge for mRNA therapies is targeting tissues beyond the liver.
BASE scientists have developed bispecific antibodies that can target mRNA-LNP to surface receptors on the target cell.
Dietmar et. al. show how bispecific antibodies target mRNA-LNPs to EGFR+ tumor cells in mice.
The bispecific antibodies can be tailored to target almost any cell-surface protein, and can be independently administered, making manufacture and delivery simple.
To assist in the design and optimisation of mRNAs, BASE scientists have developed mRNArchitect.
This software toolkit assembles and optimises primary mRNA sequences using the DNA chisel framework. Budzinska et. al., shows how mRNA sequences can be optimised for synthesis, expression and reactogenicity.
We use mRNArchitect to design mRNAs that have been validated in a wide range of applications.
mRNArchitect is freely available for use along with training materials.
mRNA vaccines offer a promising approach to treat cancer.
Dr Seth Cheetham is supported by the Medical Research Future Fund to help develop mRNA cancer vaccines.
This support will help establish the expertise and equipment to design, manufacture and test mRNA cancer vaccines at BASE, UQ.
Australian researchers have access to these capabilities, and should contact our team if developing an mRNA cancer vaccine.
We use nanopore sequencing to analyse our mRNA. This can measure quality features (5’cap, sequence, integrity and polyA) for each single mRNA molecule.
Dr Gunter published an initial study describing the analysis of mRNA vaccines using nanopore sequencing.
We are proud to collaborate with Oxford Nanopore Technologies to develop this method for quality control testing during mRNA manufacture.
BASE scientists have expertise in mRNA production and LNP formulation, and can help with process development and scale-up.
We are developing new, cell-free methods to produce high-quality mRNA. Watch our webinar where Dr Seth Cheetham, in partnership with Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), shows the rapid PCR amplification of DNA templates for mRNA synthesis.
