mRNA Vaccine

**Semantic type:** Chemical Viewed Functionally

**Definition:** A type of vaccine that is based on mRNA, which encodes the antigen of interest expressed by a pathogen or tumor cell. Upon cellular uptake by host cells, the translated protein is presented to the immune system and may induce a specific immune response against cells expressing the protein. mRNA-based dendritic cell (DC) vaccines are mRNA vaccines, in which the mRNA is introduced ex vivo.