{
  "abstract": "mRNA–lipid nanoparticle (LNP) vaccines are detectable in human blood after vaccination, but platform-specific differences in systemic persistence and transcript integrity remain poorly defined. We analyzed serial blood samples from 73 participants receiving Moderna mRNA-1273 (three formulations), Pfizer/BioNTech BNT162b2, or an investigational receptor-binding domain (RBD) mRNA vaccine (three different doses). Using droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) assays, we quantified total and long-range linked (“intact”) vaccine mRNA, and we measured vaccine-specific ionizable lipids by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS). Across platforms, mRNA decay was fastest for mRNA-1273, intermediate for BNT162b2, and slowest for the RBD vaccine, with ionizable lipid decay following the same rank order. Notably, intact spike mRNA declined 2-fold faster after mRNA-1273 than BNT162b2 vaccination. Kinetics modeling revealed platform-dependent coupling of mRNA and lipid kinetics: intact mRNA tracked closely with SM-102 for mRNA-1273, whereas ALC-0315 persisted longer than intact mRNA for BNT162b2. A ten-fragment linkage ddPCR panel spanning the spike transcript showed lower linkage toward 3′-proximal regions that mirrored the administered mRNA-1273 formulation. Together, these data provide a quantitative framework for benchmarking mRNA–LNP platform kinetics and transcript integrity in humans.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia",
    "Melbourne Sexual Health Centre and Department of Infectious Diseases, Alfred Hospital and Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia",
    "Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, and School of Cancer Medicine, La Trobe University, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084, Australia",
    "School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia",
    "Infection Analytics Program, Kirby Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia",
    "Melbourne Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics Facility, the Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia",
    "Department of Infectious Diseases, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia",
    "Drug Delivery, Disposition and Dynamics, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 13,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Stephen J. Kent",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8539-4891"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Shiyao Li",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8053-7005"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Thakshila H. Amarasena"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Arnold Reynaldi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Michael G. Leeming"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jennifer A. Juno"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Adam K. Wheatley"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Georgia Deliyannis"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Dale I. Godfrey"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Terry Nolan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Colin W. Pouton",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0224-3308"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Miles P. Davenport"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Yi Ju",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0103-1207"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c60dx1e2casbx.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1021/acsnano.6c09226",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13718610/",
  "id": "c60dx1e2casbx",
  "issns": [
    "1936-0851",
    "1936-086X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6c09226",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Article"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|RNA Interference and Gene Delivery"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221901109",
  "pdf_url": "https://pubs.acs.org/ancac3/article-pdf/doi/10.1021/acsnano.6c09226/68877061/acsnano.6c09226.pdf",
  "pmcid": "PMC13718610",
  "pmid": "42937588",
  "published": "2026-10-15",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c60dx1e2casbx.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-02T12:22:36Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13718610",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6c09226"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1312|RNA Interference and Gene Delivery",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "In Vivo Blood Kinetics and Transcript Integrity of Three mRNA–Lipid Nanoparticle Vaccines in Humans",
  "title_text": "In Vivo Blood Kinetics and Transcript Integrity of Three mRNA–Lipid Nanoparticle Vaccines in Humans",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-02T12:22:36Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c60dx1e2casbx",
  "venue": "ACS Nano",
  "versions": []
}