Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Dec 6;25(23):13139.
doi: 10.3390/ijms252313139.

Current Progress in the Development of mRNA Vaccines Against Bacterial Infections

Alina Khlebnikova  1 , Anna Kirshina  1 , Natalia Zakharova  1 , Roman Ivanov  1 , Vasiliy Reshetnikov  1
Affiliations
Review

Current Progress in the Development of mRNA Vaccines Against Bacterial Infections

Alina Khlebnikova et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Bacterial infections have accompanied humanity for centuries. The discovery of the first antibiotics and the subsequent golden era of their discovery temporarily shifted the balance in this confrontation to the side of humans. Nevertheless, the excessive and improper use of antibacterial drugs and the evolution of bacteria has gotten the better of humans again. Therefore, today, the search for new antibacterial drugs or the development of alternative approaches to the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections is relevant and topical again. Vaccination is one of the most effective strategies for the prevention of bacterial infections. The success of new-generation vaccines, such as mRNA vaccines, in the fight against viral infections has prompted many researchers to design mRNA vaccines against bacterial infections. Nevertheless, the biology of bacteria and their interactions with the host's immunity are much more complex compared to viruses. In this review, we discuss structural features and key mechanisms of evasion of an immune response for nine species of bacterial pathogens against which mRNA vaccines have been developed and tested in animals. We focus on the results of experiments involving the application of mRNA vaccines against various bacterial pathogens in animal models and discuss possible options for improving the vaccines' effectiveness. This is one of the first comprehensive reviews of the use of mRNA vaccines against bacterial infections in vivo to improve our knowledge.

Keywords: B. burgdorferi; L. monocytogenes; M. tuberculosis; P. aeruginosa; RNA vaccine; S. pyogenes; bacterial infection.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Gould K. Antibiotics: From Prehistory to the Present Day. J. Antimicrob. Chemother. 2016;71:572–575. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkv484. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Li T., Wang Z., Guo J., de la Fuente-Nunez C., Wang J., Han B., Tao H., Liu J., Wang X. Bacterial Resistance to Antibacterial Agents: Mechanisms, Control Strategies, and Implications for Global Health. Sci. Total Environ. 2023;860:160461. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.160461. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dionisio F., Baquero F., Fuertes M. Psychological and Cultural Factors Influencing Antibiotic Prescription. Trends Microbiol. 2023;31:559–570. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2022.12.010. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Breijyeh Z., Karaman R. Design and Synthesis of Novel Antimicrobial Agents. Antibiotics. 2023;12:628. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics12030628. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kuzovlev A.S., Zybalov M.D., Golovin A.V., Gureev M.A., Kasatkina M.A., Biryukov M.V., Belik A.R., Silonov S.A., Yunin M.A., Zigangirova N.A., et al. Naphthyl-Substituted Indole and Pyrrole Carboxylic Acids as Effective Antibiotic Potentiators—Inhibitors of Bacterial Cystathionine γ-Lyase. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023;24:16331. doi: 10.3390/ijms242216331. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources