New adjuvants in evolving vaccine strategies

Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2011 Jul;11(7):827-32. doi: 10.1517/14712598.2011.587802. Epub 2011 May 24.

Abstract

Adjuvants are becoming the key players of vaccine formulations to enhance the immunogenicity of subunit (peptides, proteins, virus-like particles (VLPs)) and DNA vaccines, as well as to reach the current new goals of preventing and/or treating chronic infectious diseases and cancers. Induction of humoral response, in particular neutralizing antibodies able to inhibit the binding of pathogens to their cellular receptors, remains a major goal of vaccines targeted to prevent acute lytic infections; induction/modulation of cellular immunity is, however, critical to fight latently/chronically infected cells as well as cancer cells. The new adjuvants, included in vaccine preparations, are currently able to modify the presentation of epitopes to the immune system with a specific T(H)1 versus T(H)2 polarization efficacy. A paradigm of the relevance of these new adjuvants is the immunological result obtained with the inclusion of monophosphoryl lipid A in the formulation of L1-based human papillomavirus (HPV)-naked VLPs. In the May issue of this journal, Garcon and colleagues describe the highly enhanced humoral and memory B cellular immunity of the AS04-adjuvanted HPV vaccine, which results in a long-lasting and broad spectrum immunity.

Publication types

  • Editorial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adjuvants, Immunologic / pharmacology*
  • Aluminum Hydroxide / pharmacology*
  • Animals
  • B-Lymphocytes / drug effects
  • B-Lymphocytes / immunology
  • Chemistry, Pharmaceutical
  • Humans
  • Immunity, Humoral / drug effects
  • Immunologic Memory / drug effects
  • Lipid A / analogs & derivatives*
  • Lipid A / pharmacology
  • Papillomavirus Vaccines / pharmacology*
  • Th1 Cells / drug effects
  • Th1 Cells / immunology
  • Th2 Cells / drug effects
  • Th2 Cells / immunology

Substances

  • ASO4 mixture
  • Adjuvants, Immunologic
  • Lipid A
  • Papillomavirus Vaccines
  • Aluminum Hydroxide