An mRNA Vaccine for Pancreatic Cancer Designed by Applying in Silico Immunoinformatics and Reverse Vaccinology Approaches
Md. Habib Ullah Masum, Shah Wajed, Md. Imam Hossain, Nusrat Rahman Moumi, Asma Talukder, Md. Mijanur Rahman.
Abstract
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is the most prevalent pancreatic cancer, which is considered a significant global health concern. Chemotherapy and surgery are the mainstays of current pancreatic cancer treatments; however, a few cases are suitable for surgery, and most of the cases will experience recurrent episodes. Compared to DNA or peptide vaccines, mRNA vaccines for pancreatic cancer have more promise because of their delivery, enhanced immune responses, and lower proneness to mutation.
Introduction
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), which constitutes 90% of pancreatic cancer (PC), is the fourth most prevalent cause of cancer-related mortality globally. A study suggests that by 2030, the number of deaths in the US from PC will surpass that from breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer combined, partly as a result of improvements in the treatment of other cancers and an aging population. In a recent study by the American Cancer Society (ACS), the overall 5-year survival rate for PC is dramatically low, estimated at around 12%. The poor survival rate may be attributed to several factors, one of which is the late stage at which most patients are diagnosed.
Materials and Methods:
Amino acid sequences of the following proteins, S100-A4 (accession number: P26447.1), S100-A6 (accession number: P06703.1), S100-A8 (accession number: P05109.1), S100-A9 (accession number: P06702.1), S100-A11 (accession number: P31949.2) were retrieved from National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/) protein database and saved in FASTA format.
Discussion
In a notable scientific advancement, researchers successfully developed the first-ever cancer vaccine in the year 1980. This groundbreaking vaccine was created using tumor cells and tumor lysate, especially autologous tumor cells, in the development of colorectal cancer treatment. In the early 1990s, the discovery of the first human tumor antigen, melanoma-associated antigen 1 (MAGE-1), paved the way for further exploration and utilization of tumor antigens in developing potential cancer treatments. Cancer vaccines primarily use tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) and tumor-specific antigens (TSAs) to stimulate the individual’s immune system.
Citation: Masum MHU, Wajed S, Hossain MI, Moumi NR, Talukder A, Rahman MM (2024) An mRNA vaccine for pancreatic cancer designed by applying in silico immunoinformatics and reverse vaccinology approaches. PLoS ONE 19(7): e0305413. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0305413
Editor: Sheikh Arslan Sehgal, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur Pakistan, PAKISTAN
Received: March 16, 2024; Accepted: May 30, 2024; Published: July 8, 2024.
Copyright: © 2024 Masum et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.
Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
