Modification of antigen-encoding RNA increases stability, translational efficacy, and T-cell stimulatory capacity of dendritic cells.

AbstractAdoptive transfer of dendritic cells (DCs) transfected with in vitro–transcribed, RNA-encoding, tumor-associated antigens has recently entered clinical testing as a promising approach for cancer immunotherapy. However, pharmacokinetic exploration of RNA as a potential drug compound and a key aspect of clinical development is still pending. While investigating the impact of different structural modifications of RNA molecules on the kinetics of the encoded protein in DCs, we identified components located 3′ of the coding region that contributed to a higher transcript stability and translational efficiency. With the use of quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (R…