Rapid and scalable detection of synthetic mRNA byproducts using polynucleotide phosphorylase and polythymidine oligonucleotides

Production and storage of synthetic mRNA can introduce a variety of byproducts which reduce the overall integrity and functionality of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics. mRNA integrity is therefore designated as a critical quality attribute which must be evaluated with state-of-the-art analytical metho...

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Main Authors: Francis Combes, Thanh-Huong Bui, Frida J. Pettersson, Sjoerd Hak
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:RNA Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15476286.2024.2363029
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author Francis Combes
Thanh-Huong Bui
Frida J. Pettersson
Sjoerd Hak
author_facet Francis Combes
Thanh-Huong Bui
Frida J. Pettersson
Sjoerd Hak
author_sort Francis Combes
collection DOAJ
description Production and storage of synthetic mRNA can introduce a variety of byproducts which reduce the overall integrity and functionality of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics. mRNA integrity is therefore designated as a critical quality attribute which must be evaluated with state-of-the-art analytical methods before clinical use. The current study first demonstrates the effect of heat degradation on transcript translatability and then describes a novel enzymatic approach to assess the integrity of conventional mRNA and long self-amplifying mRNA. By first hybridizing oligo-T to the poly(A) tail of intact mRNA and subsequently digesting the unhybridized RNA fragments with a 3’-5’ exoribonuclease, individual nucleotides can be selectively released from RNA fragments. The adenosine-based fraction of these nucleotides can then be converted into ATP and detected by luminescence as a sensitive indicator of mRNA byproducts. We developed a polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase)-based assay that offers fast and sensitive evaluation of mRNA integrity, regardless of its length, thus presenting a novel and fully scalable alternative to chromatographic-, electrophoresis-, or sequencing-based techniques.
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institution Kabale University
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series RNA Biology
spelling doaj-art-35a9f18a99204cc880a0c631d0e17b3a2024-12-11T07:34:00ZengTaylor & Francis GroupRNA Biology1547-62861555-85842024-12-0121166567210.1080/15476286.2024.2363029Rapid and scalable detection of synthetic mRNA byproducts using polynucleotide phosphorylase and polythymidine oligonucleotidesFrancis Combes0Thanh-Huong Bui1Frida J. Pettersson2Sjoerd Hak3Department of Biotechnology and Nanomedicine, SINTEF, Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Biotechnology and Nanomedicine, SINTEF, Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Biotechnology and Nanomedicine, SINTEF, Trondheim, NorwayDepartment of Biotechnology and Nanomedicine, SINTEF, Trondheim, NorwayProduction and storage of synthetic mRNA can introduce a variety of byproducts which reduce the overall integrity and functionality of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics. mRNA integrity is therefore designated as a critical quality attribute which must be evaluated with state-of-the-art analytical methods before clinical use. The current study first demonstrates the effect of heat degradation on transcript translatability and then describes a novel enzymatic approach to assess the integrity of conventional mRNA and long self-amplifying mRNA. By first hybridizing oligo-T to the poly(A) tail of intact mRNA and subsequently digesting the unhybridized RNA fragments with a 3’-5’ exoribonuclease, individual nucleotides can be selectively released from RNA fragments. The adenosine-based fraction of these nucleotides can then be converted into ATP and detected by luminescence as a sensitive indicator of mRNA byproducts. We developed a polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase)-based assay that offers fast and sensitive evaluation of mRNA integrity, regardless of its length, thus presenting a novel and fully scalable alternative to chromatographic-, electrophoresis-, or sequencing-based techniques.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15476286.2024.2363029mRNAbyproductsPNPaseassayhigh-throughput
spellingShingle Francis Combes
Thanh-Huong Bui
Frida J. Pettersson
Sjoerd Hak
Rapid and scalable detection of synthetic mRNA byproducts using polynucleotide phosphorylase and polythymidine oligonucleotides
RNA Biology
mRNA
byproducts
PNPase
assay
high-throughput
title Rapid and scalable detection of synthetic mRNA byproducts using polynucleotide phosphorylase and polythymidine oligonucleotides
title_full Rapid and scalable detection of synthetic mRNA byproducts using polynucleotide phosphorylase and polythymidine oligonucleotides
title_fullStr Rapid and scalable detection of synthetic mRNA byproducts using polynucleotide phosphorylase and polythymidine oligonucleotides
title_full_unstemmed Rapid and scalable detection of synthetic mRNA byproducts using polynucleotide phosphorylase and polythymidine oligonucleotides
title_short Rapid and scalable detection of synthetic mRNA byproducts using polynucleotide phosphorylase and polythymidine oligonucleotides
title_sort rapid and scalable detection of synthetic mrna byproducts using polynucleotide phosphorylase and polythymidine oligonucleotides
topic mRNA
byproducts
PNPase
assay
high-throughput
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/15476286.2024.2363029
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