Synthetic Biology of mRNA

Project Information

NEWmRNA

Grant agreement ID: 965135

DOI

10.3030/965135

Project closed

EC signature date 16 December 2020

Start date 1 March 2021

End date 31 August 2025

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)

Total cost

€ 2 998 545,00

EU contribution

€ 2 998 545,00

Coordinated by

EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH
Switzerland

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Links to deliverables and publications from FP7 projects, as well as links to some specific result types such as dataset and software, are dynamically retrieved from OpenAIRE .

Deliverables

Documents, reports (17)

Synthesis of novel nucleoside triphosphates, part I

Report on nonconfidential synthesis of novel nucleoside triphosphates with modified bases focus on pyrimidinelike bases

Partially operative T7 RNAPol variant

Report on nonconfidential aspects of first partially operative T7 RNAPol variants

Summary characterization of T7 RNAPol variants

Report on non-confidential aspects of the different T7 RNAPol variants obtained over the project

Synthesis of novel nucleoside triphosphates for in vitro transcription

Report on nonconfidential aspects of synthesis of novel nucleoside triphosphates with noncanonical sugars for in vitro transcription U and Ccarrying bases

Optimized CNA synthesis

Summary report on non-confidential aspects of the optimization of in vivo CNA synthesis

Dissemination and exploitation plan
Chemical assembly of short mRNAs, part I

Report on nonconfidential aspects of chemical assembly of short mRNAs

Production of circmRNA in E. coli (long mRNA)

Protocol for efficient production of (long) circmRNA production in E. coli.

Report on .eu project website and logo

Report on eu project website and logo M2 ETH Zrich

Enzyme with hydrolytic activity for cNMP

Summary report on nonconfidential aspects of enzyme development for deblocking cNMP

Report on NEWmRNA summer school
CNA precursor uptake

Report on nonconfidential aspects of import engineering for CNA precursors

Robust E. coli chassis lacking phosphoribose and PRPP metabolism

Summary report on nonconfidential aspects of engineering PRPP metabolismfree E coli

Production of circRNA in E. coli (short RNA)

Protocol for efficient production of short circRNA production in E coli

Synthesis of transport and in vivo transcription substrates, part I

Report on nonconfidential aspects of synthesis of transport and in vivo transcription substrates using carbamate cNTPs focus on U and Cbases

Establishment of T7 RNAPol mutant libraries and HTP screen

Report on the establishment of T7 RNAPol mutant libraries and a suitable HTP screen

Characterization of in vivo functionality of oligonucleotides, part I

Preliminary summary report on nonconfidential aspects of the characterization of in vivo functionality of oligonucleotides with noncanonical pyrimidine or purine base moieties

Open Research Data Pilot (1)

Data management plan

Report on data management plan

Publications

Peer reviewed articles (14)

RNA with chemotherapeutic base analogues as a dual-functional anti-cancer drug

Author(s): Natalia Teresa Jarzebska, Marina Tusup, Julia Frei, Tobias Weiss, Tim Holzinger, Mark Mellett, Mustafa Diken, Simon Bredl, Michael Weller, Roberto F. Speck, Thomas M. Kündig, Ugur Sahin, Steve Pascolo
Published in: OncoImmunology, Issue 11, 2025, ISSN 2162-402X
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
DOI: 10.1080/2162402x.2022.2147665

A microbiological system for screening the interference of XNA monomers with DNA and RNA metabolism.

Author(s): Blanchard, A., Abramov, M., Hassan, C., Marliere, P., Herdewijn, P., Pezo, V. A
Published in: RSC Advances, 2023, ISSN 2046-2069
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
DOI: 10.1039/d3ra06172h

In vivo assembly and expression of DNA containing non-canonical bases in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Author(s): Nguyen, H., Abramov, M., Rozenski, J., Ermeeva, E., Herdewijn, P.
Published in: ChemBioChem, 2023, ISSN 1439-4227
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/cbic.202200060

LL37 complexed to double-stranded RNA induces RIG-I-like receptor signalling and Gasdermin E activation facilitating IL-36γ release from keratinocytes

Author(s): Jennifer Keller, Judit Danis, Isabella Krehl, Eleftheria Girousi, Takashi K. Satoh, Barbara Meier-Schiesser, Lajos Kemény, Márta Széll, W. Wei-Lynn Wong, Steve Pascolo, Lars E. French, Thomas M. Kündig, Mark Mellett
Published in: Cell Death & Disease, Issue 16, 2025, ISSN 2041-4889
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/s41419-025-07537-9

Synthetic mRNAs Containing Minimalistic Untranslated Regions Are Highly Functional In Vitro and In Vivo

Author(s): Shahab Mamaghani, Rocco Roberto Penna, Julia Frei, Conrad Wyss, Mark Mellett, Thomas Look, Tobias Weiss, Emmanuella Guenova, Thomas M. Kündig, Severin Lauchli, Steve Pascolo
Published in: Cells, Issue 13, 2024, Page(s) 1242, ISSN 2073-4409
Publisher: MDPI AG
DOI: 10.3390/cells13151242

Lipofection with Synthetic mRNA as a Simple Method for T-Cell Immunomonitoring

Author(s): Jarzebska NT, Frei J, Lauchli S, French LE, Guenova E, Gouttefangeas C, Kündig TM, Mellett M, Pascolo S
Published in: Viruses, Issue 13, 2021, Page(s) 1232, ISSN 1999-4915
Publisher: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
DOI: 10.3390/v13071232

Data-driven protease engineering by DNA-recording and epistasis-aware machine learning

Author(s): Lukas Huber, Tim Kucera, Simon Höllerer, Karsten Borgwardt, Sven Panke, Markus Jeschek
Published in: Nature Communications, Issue 16, 2025, ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60622-7

CRISPR-Cas9 recognition of enzymatically synthesized base-modified nucleic acids.

Author(s): Yang H, Eremeeva E, Abramov M, Jacquemyn M, Groaz E, Daelemans D, Herdewijn P.
Published in: Nucleic Acids Research, 2023, ISSN 0305-1048
Publisher: Oxford University Press
DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac1147

Vaccines against COVID-19: Priority to mRNA-Based Formulations.

Author(s): Pascolo S
Published in: Cells, Issue 10, 2021, Page(s) 2716, ISSN 2073-4409
Publisher: MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/cells10102716

Protamine-Based Strategies for RNA Transfection

Author(s): Jarzebska NT, Mellett M, Frei J, Kündig TM, Pascolo S
Published in: Pharmaceutics, Issue 13, 2021, Page(s) 877, ISSN 1999-4923
Publisher: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13060877

Nonreplicating synthetic mRNA vaccines: A journey through the European (Journal of Immunology) history

Author(s): Pascolo S
Published in: Europ. J. Immun., 2023, ISSN 0014-2980
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/eji.202249941

Differential functionality of fluoropyrimidine nucleosides for safe cancer therapy

Author(s): Tim Holzinger, Julia Frei, Natalia Teresa Jarzebska, Hans-Dietmar Beer, Thomas M. Kündig, Steve Pascolo, Severin Läuchli, Mark Mellett
Published in: Anti-Cancer Drugs, Issue 35, 2025, Page(s) 912-921, ISSN 0959-4973
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ltd.
DOI: 10.1097/cad.0000000000001644

Implications of mRNA-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccination for cancer patients

Author(s): Romano E, Pascolo S, Ott P
Published in: J Immunother Cancer, Issue 9, 2021, Page(s) e002932, ISSN 2051-1426
Publisher: BMJ
DOI: 10.1136/jitc-2021-002932

Modulation of the tetrameric I-motif folding of C-rich Tetrahymena telomeric sequences by hexitol nucleic acid (HNA) modifications.

Author(s): Ghezzo M, Grigoletto L, Rigo R, Herdewijn P, Groaz E, Sissi C.
Published in: Biochimie, 2023, ISSN 0300-9084
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2023.08.003