Harnessing mRNA for heart health: a new era in cardiovascular treatment

mRNA serves as a versatile platform for the expression of paracrine factors, thereby promoting cardioprotection and regeneration. In recent years, mRNA and gene editing technologies have emerged as innovative tools for tackling complex diseases. Among these, mRNA therapeutics offer distinct advantages, including favorable immunological properties, strong safety profiles, and superior flexibility compared to conventional gene-based vaccines. Specifically, they can elicit a balanced immune response-encompassing both cellular and humoral immunity-without being limited by MHC haplotypes. Furthermore, mRNA therapy represents a particularly safe treatment modality. As a minimal and transient carrier of genetic information that does not integrate into the host genome, it significantly reduces the risk of insertional mutagenesis. Importantly, mRNA can be used to express virtually any protein without requiring changes to the production process, thus offering substantial flexibility in drug development. Collectively, these attributes highlight the great potential of mRNA as a next-generation therapeutic platform, particularly for cardiovascular diseases. This review summarizes recent progress in the development and application of mRNA-based drug formulations for cardiovascular therapy.