Evading innate immunity in nonviral mRNA delivery: don't shoot the messenger

Abstract

In the field of nonviral gene therapy, in vitro transcribed (IVT) mRNA has emerged as a promising tool for the delivery of genetic information. Over the past few years it has become widely known that the introduction of IVT mRNA into mammalian cells elicits an innate immune response that has favored mRNA use toward immunotherapeutic vaccination strategies. However, for non-immunotherapy-related applications this intrinsic immune-stimulatory activity directly interferes with the aimed therapeutic outcome, because it can seriously compromise the expression of the desired protein. This review presents an overview of the immune-related obstacles that limit mRNA advance for non-immunotherapy-related applications.