- Immunologic adjuvant
In
immunology , an adjuvant is an agent that may stimulate theimmune system and increase the response to avaccine , without having any specificantigen ic effect in itself. [ [http://www.cancer.gov/templates/db_alpha.aspx?CdrID=43987 Definition of Adjuvant,] National Cancer Institute.] The word “adjuvant” comes from the Latin word "adjuvare", meaning to help or aid. [ [http://www.springerlink.com/content/m823465l9p126826/ "DNA Vaccines: Methods and Protocols,"] D.B. Lowrie and R.G. Whalen, Humana Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-89603-580-5.] "An immunologic adjuvant is defined as any substance that acts to accelerate, prolong, or enhance antigen-specific immune responses when used in combination with specific vaccine antigens." [ [http://www.springerlink.com/content/m823465l9p126826/ "The Use of Conventional Immunologic Adjuvants in DNA Vaccine Preparations,"] by Shin Sasaki and Kenji Okuda. In D.B. Lowrie and R.G. Whalen (editors), "DNA Vaccines: Methods and Protocols," Humana Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-89603-580-5.]Adjuvants have been called the "dirty little secret" of vaccines [ [http://www.thescientist.com/article/display/39377/ The Scientist] "Deciphering Immunology's Dirty Secret."] in the scientific community, as much about how adjuvants work is a mystery. Known adjuvants include oils, aluminum salts and virosomes.
Overview
Adjuvants in
immunology are often used to modify or augment the effects of avaccine by stimulating theimmune system to respond to the vaccine more vigorously, and thus providing increased immunity to a particulardisease . Adjuvants accomplish this task by mimicking specific sets ofevolutionarily conserved molecules which includeliposomes ,lipopolysaccharide (LPS), molecular cages forantigen , components of bacterialcell walls , and endocytosed nucleic acids such as double-strandedRNA (dsRNA ), single-stranded DNA (ssDNA ), and unmethylatedCpG dinucleotide-containingDNA . cite journal |author=Gavin A, Hoebe K, Duong B, Ota T, Martin C, Beutler B, Nemazee D |title=Adjuvant-enhanced antibody responses in the absence of toll-like receptor signaling |journal=Science |volume=314 |issue=5807 |pages=1936–8 |year=2006 |pmid=17185603 |url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=17185603 |accessdate=2008-04-03 |doi=10.1126/science.1135299] Because immune systems haveevolved to recognize these specificantigenic moieties , the presence of adjuvant in conjunction with the vaccine can greatly increase theinnate immune response to the antigen by augmenting the activities ofdendritic cells (DCs),lymphocytes andmacrophages by mimicking anatural infection . [ Majde JA. 1987. Progress in leukocyte biology. Alan R. Liss, Inc. vol. 6.] Furthermore, because adjuvants are attenuated beyond any function ofvirulence , they pose little or no independent threat to ahost organism .Inorganic adjuvants
Aluminium salts
There are many adjuvants, some of which are
inorganic (such asalum ), that also carry the potential to augmentimmunogenicity . [cite journal |author=Clements C, Griffiths E |title=The global impact of vaccines containing aluminium adjuvants |journal=Vaccine |volume=20 Suppl 3 |issue= |pages=S24–33 |year= |pmid=12184361] [Glenny A, Pope C, Waddington H, and Wallace U. 1926. The antigenic value of toxoid precipitated by potassium alum. J Pathol Bacteriol. 29: 38-45.] Two common salts includealuminum phosphate andaluminum hydroxide . These are the most common adjuvants in human vaccines.Organic adjuvants
While Aluminium salts are popularly used in human vaccines, the organic compound
Squalene is also used. However, organic adjuvants are more commonly used in animal vaccines.Oil-based
Oil-based adjuvants are commonly used in some veterinary vaccines.
Virosomes
Another market-approved adjuvant and carrier system are
virosomes . [ [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TD4-3Y44SRT-4K&_user=606406&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F1995&_fmt=full&_orig=search&_cdi=5188&view=c&_acct=C000029798&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=606406&md5=29035d9b4bf92526c125f3e6e99de680&ref=full "Safety, immunogenicity, and kinetics of the immune response to a single dose of virosome-formulated hepatitis A vaccine in Thais,"] Yong Poovorawana, Apiradee Theamboonlersa, Saowani Chumdermpadetsuka, Reinhard Glückb and Stanley J. Cryz, Jr., "Vaccine," Volume 13, Issue 10, 1995, Pages 891-893.] During the last two decades, a variety of technologies have been investigated to improve the widely-used adjuvants based on aluminum salts. [ [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TD4-3WF7F3Y-8&_user=606406&_coverDate=07%2F31%2F1996&_fmt=full&_orig=search&_cdi=5188&view=c&_acct=C000029798&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=606406&md5=f0d5695164e9600df29aa0f14f2a0432&ref=full "Immunogenicity and adverse effects of inactivated virosome versus alum-adsorbed hepatitis A vaccine: a randomized controlled trial,"] Benedikt R. Holzer*, Christoph Hatz†, Dagmar Schmidt-Sissolak†, Reinhard Glück‡, Beat Althaus‡ and Matthias Egger, "Vaccine," Volume 14, Issue 10, July 1996, Pages 982-986.] These salts are unfavorable, since they develop their effect by inducing local inflammation, which is also the basis for the extended side-effect pattern of this adjuvant. In contrast, the adjuvant capabilities of virosomes are independent of any inflammatory reaction. Virosomes contain a membrane-boundhemagglutinin andneuraminidase derived from the influenza virus, and serve to amplify fusogenic activity and therefore facilitate the uptake into antigen presenting cells (APC) and induce a natural antigen-processing pathway. The delivery of the antigen by virosomes to the immune system in a way that mimics a natural path may be a reason why virosome-based vaccines stand out due to their excellent safety profile. [ [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TD4-3VW86PK-2G&_user=606406&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000029798&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=606406&md5=d4e5e5e32cb4b693078ac4464e16459a "Adjuvant activity of immunopotentiating reconstituted influenza virosomes (IRIVs),"] Reinhard Glück, "Vaccine,"Volume 17, Issues 13-14, January 1999, Pages 1782-1787.]Experimental adjuvants
An increasing number of vaccines with squalene and phosphate adjuvants are being tested on humans. [ [http://www.annalsnyas.org/cgi/content/abstract/754/1/153 "Immunologic adjuvants for modern vaccine formulations,"] F. R. Vogel, "Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences", Vol 754, Issue 1, 1995, pp. 153-160] The compound
QS21 is under investigation as a possible immunological adjuvant [cite journal |author=Ghochikyan A, Mkrtichyan M, Petrushina I, Movsesyan N, Karapetyan A, Cribbs D, Agadjanyan M |title=Prototype Alzheimer's disease epitope vaccine induced strong Th2-type anti-Abeta antibody response with Alum to Quil A adjuvant switch |journal=Vaccine |volume=24 |issue=13 |pages=2275–82 |year=2006 |pmid=16368167 |doi=10.1016/j.vaccine.2005.11.039] as is Novartis' (formerly Chiron) MF59. [ [http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/newsreleases/2004/h9n2.htm NIH] "Chiron Corporation will produce theH9N2 vaccine at its manufacturing facility in Siena,Italy . The company will prepare different dosages of the vaccine, which is based on an inactivated strain of the H9N2 virus developed by theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention . Some dosages will contain Chiron’s MF59 adjuvant—a substance designed to boost the vaccine’s protective effect." ]Adjuvants and the adaptive immune response
One misconception concerning adjuvant function is that an adjuvant-enhanced
innate immune response should affect only the transitory reaction of the innate immune response and not the more long-lived effects of theadaptive immune response .Fact|date=November 2007 Although it may appear fitting to separate the two systems, it is however important to realize the interconnected nature of the twosystems . When the amount ofcommunication that takes place between the innate immune response and the adaptive immune response with the onset ofinfection is considered it becomes difficult to separate the two systems. In order to understand the links between the innate immune response and the adaptive immune response to help substantiate an adjuvant function in enhancing adaptive immune responses to the specific antigen of a vaccine, the following points should be considered:* Innate immune response cells such as DCs engulf
pathogens through a process calledphagocytosis .
* DCs then migrate to thelymph nodes whereT cells (adaptive immune cells) wait for signals to trigger their activation. [cite journal |author=Bousso P, Robey E |title=Dynamics of CD8+ T cell priming by dendritic cells in intact lymph nodes |journal=Nat Immunol |volume=4 |issue=6 |pages=579–85 |year=2003 |pmid=12730692 |doi=10.1038/ni928]
* In the lymph nodes, DCs mince the engulfed pathogen and then express the pathogen clippings as antigen on their cell surface by coupling them to a special receptor known as amajor histocompatibility complex (MHC).
* T cells can then recognize these clippings and undergo a cellulartransformation resulting in its own activation. [cite journal |author=Mempel T, Henrickson S, Von Andrian U |title=T-cell priming by dendritic cells in lymph nodes occurs in three distinct phases |journal=Nature |volume=427 |issue=6970 |pages=154–9 |year=2004 |pmid=14712275 |doi=10.1038/nature02238]
*γδ T cells possess characteristics of both the innate and adaptive immune responses.
*Macrophages can also activate T cells in a similar approach.This process carried out by both DCs and macrophages is termed
antigen presentation and represents a physical link between the innate and adaptive immune responses.Upon activation,
mast cells releaseheparin andhistamine to effectively increase trafficking to and seal off the site ofinfection to allow immune cells of both systems to clear the area of pathogens. In addition, mast cells also releasechemokines which result in the positivechemotaxis of other immune cells of both the innate and adaptive immune responses to the infected area. [cite journal |author=Gaboury J, Johnston B, Niu X, Kubes P |title=Mechanisms underlying acute mast cell-induced leukocyte rolling and adhesion in vivo |journal=J Immunol |volume=154 |issue=2 |pages=804–13 |year=1995 |pmid=7814884] [cite journal |author=Kashiwakura J, Yokoi H, Saito H, Okayama Y |title=T cell proliferation by direct cross-talk between OX40 ligand on human mast cells and OX40 on human T cells: comparison of gene expression profiles between human tonsillar and lung-cultured mast cells |journal=J Immunol |volume=173 |issue=8 |pages=5247–57 |year=2004 |pmid=15470070]Due to the variety of mechanisms and links between the innate and adaptive immune response, an adjuvant-enhanced innate immune response results in an enhanced adaptive immune response. Specifically, a recent study has observed that adjuvants may exert their immune-enhancing effects according to five immune-functional activities. [cite journal |author=Schijns V |title=Immunological concepts of vaccine adjuvant activity |journal=Curr Opin Immunol |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=456–63 |year=2000 |pmid=10899018 |doi=10.1016/S0952-7915(00)00120-5]
* First, it was found that adjuvants all help in thetranslocation ofantigens to thelymph nodes where they can be recognized byT cells . This will ultimately lead to greater T cell activity resulting in a heightened clearance ofpathogen throughout theorganism .
* Second, adjuvants provide physical protection to antigens which grants the antigen a prolonged delivery. This means that the organism will be exposed to the antigen for a longer duration, making the immune system morerobust as it makes use of the additional time by upregulating the production of B and T cells needed for greater immunologicalmemory in the adaptive immune response.
* Third, adjuvants help to increase the capacity to cause localreactions at the injection site (during vaccination),inducing greater release of danger signals bychemokine releasing cells such ashelper T cells andmast cells .
* Fourth, they induce the release of inflammatory cytokines which helps to not only recruit B and T cells at sites ofinfection but also to increasetranscriptional events leading to a net increase ofimmune cells as a whole.
* Finally, adjuvants are believed to increase the innate immune response to antigen by interacting withpattern recognition receptors (PRRs), specificallyToll-like receptors (TLRs ), on accessory cells.Adjuvants and toll-like receptors
The ability of immune system to recognize
molecule s that are broadly shared bypathogen s is, in part, due to the presence of specialImmune receptor s calledTLRs that are expressed onleukocyte membranes. TLRs were first discovered indrosophila , and are membrane bound pattern recognition receptors (PRRs ) responsible for detecting most (although certainly not all) antigen-mediated infections. [cite journal |author=Lemaitre B, Nicolas E, Michaut L, Reichhart J, Hoffmann J |title=The dorsoventral regulatory gene cassette spätzle/Toll/cactus controls the potent antifungal response in Drosophila adults |journal=Cell |volume=86 |issue=6 |pages=973–83 |year=1996 |pmid=8808632 |doi=10.1016/S0092-8674(00)80172-5] [cite journal |author=Beutler B |title=Inferences, questions and possibilities in Toll-like receptor signalling |journal=Nature |volume=430 |issue=6996 |pages=257–63 |year=2004 |pmid=15241424 |doi=10.1038/nature02761] In fact, some studies have shown that in the absence ofTLR ,leukocytes become unresponsive (no inflammatory responses) to somemicrobial components such asLPS . [cite journal |author=Poltorak A, He X, Smirnova I, Liu M, Van Huffel C, Du X, Birdwell D, Alejos E, Silva M, Galanos C, Freudenberg M, Ricciardi-Castagnoli P, Layton B, Beutler B |title=Defective LPS signaling in C3H/HeJ and C57BL/10ScCr mice: mutations in Tlr4 gene |journal=Science |volume=282 |issue=5396 |pages=2085–8 |year=1998 |pmid=9851930 |doi=10.1126/science.282.5396.2085] There are at least thirteen different forms of TLR, each with its own characteristicligand . Prevailing TLRligands described to date (all of which elicit adjuvant effects) include manyevolutionarily conservedmolecules such as LPS,lipoproteins ,lipopeptides ,flagellin , double-stranded RNA, unmethylated CpG islands and various other forms ofDNA andRNA classically released bybacteria andviruses . [cite journal |author=Bültmann B, Finger H, Heymer B, Schachenmayr W, Hof H, Haferkamp O |title=Adjuvancy of streptococcal nucleic acids |journal=Z Immunitatsforsch Exp Klin Immunol |volume=148 |issue=5 |pages=425–30 |year=1975 |pmid=127450] [Capanna SL, Kong YM. 1974. Further studies on the prevention of tolerance induction by poly A:U. Immunology. 27: 647-653.] [cite journal |author=Nauciel C, Fleck J, Martin J, Mock M, Nguyen-Huy H |title=Adjuvant activity of bacterial peptidoglycans on the production of delayed hypersensitivity and on antibody response |journal=Eur J Immunol |volume=4 |issue=5 |pages=352–6 |year=1974 |pmid=4604064 |doi=10.1002/eji.1830040509] [Schmidtke JR, Johnson AG. 1971. Regulation of the immune system by synthetic polynucleotides. I. Characteristics of adjuvant action on antibody synthesis. J. Immunol. 106: 1191-1200.] [Youmans AS, Youmans GP. 1969. Factor affecting immunogenic activity of mycobacterial ribosomal and ribonucleic acid preparations. J. Bacteriol. 99: 42-50.] [cite journal |author=Youmans G, Youmans A |title=Allergenicity of mycobacterial ribosomal and ribonucleic acid preparations in mice and guinea pigs |journal=J Bacteriol |volume=97 |issue=1 |pages=134–9 |year=1969 |pmid=4236903]The binding of
ligand - either in the form of adjuvant used invaccinations or in the form of invasive moieties during times of natural infection - to the TLR marks the keymolecular events that ultimately lead to innate immune responses and the development of antigen-specific acquired immunity. [Kiyoshi Takeda, and Shizuo Akira. 2005. Toll-like receptors in innate immunity. International Immunology. 17(1): 1-14.] cite journal |author=Medzhitov R, Preston-Hurlburt P, Janeway C |title=A human homologue of the Drosophila Toll protein signals activation of adaptive immunity |journal=Nature |volume=388 |issue=6640 |pages=394–7 |year=1997 |pmid=9237759 |doi=10.1038/41131] The very fact that TLR activation leads to adaptive immune responses to foreign entities explains why so many adjuvants used today in vaccinations are developed to mimic TLR ligands.It is believed that upon activation, TLRs recruit
adapter proteins (proteins that mediate other protein-protein interactions) within thecytosol of theimmune cell in order to propagate the antigen-inducedsignal transduction pathway . To date, four adapter proteins have been well-characterized. These proteins are known asMyD88 ,Trif ,Tram andTirap (also called Mal). [Berczi I, Bertok L, Bereznai T. 1966. Comparative studies on the toxicity of Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide endotoxin in various animal species. Can. J. Microbiol. 12: 1070-1071.] [Yamamoto,M., Sato,S., Hemmi,H., Hoshino,K., Kaisho,T., Sanjo,H., Takeuchi,O., Sugiyama,M., Okabe,M., Takeda,K. et al. 2003. Role of adapter TRIF in the MyD88-independent Toll-like receptor signaling pathway. Science. 301: 640-643.] [cite journal |author=Yamamoto M, Sato S, Hemmi H, Sanjo H, Uematsu S, Kaisho T, Hoshino K, Takeuchi O, Kobayashi M, Fujita T, Takeda K, Akira S |title=Essential role for TIRAP in activation of the signalling cascade shared by TLR2 and TLR4 |journal=Nature |volume=420 |issue=6913 |pages=324–9 |year=2002 |pmid=12447441 |doi=10.1038/nature01182] [cite journal |author=Yamamoto M, Sato S, Hemmi H, Uematsu S, Hoshino K, Kaisho T, Takeuchi O, Takeda K, Akira S |title=TRAM is specifically involved in the Toll-like receptor 4-mediated MyD88-independent signaling pathway |journal=Nat Immunol |volume=4 |issue=11 |pages=1144–50 |year=2003 |pmid=14556004 |doi=10.1038/ni986] These recruitedproteins are then responsible for the subsequent activation of other downstream proteins, includingprotein kinases (IKKi,IRAK1 ,IRAK4 , andTBK1 ) that further amplify the signal and ultimately lead to the upregulation or suppression ofgenes that orchestrateinflammatory responses and othertranscriptional events. Some of these events lead tocytokine production, proliferation, and survival, while others lead to greater adaptive immunity. ] The highsensitivity of TLR formicrobial ligands is what makes adjuvants that mimic TLR ligands such a prime candidate for enhancing the overall effects of antigen specific vaccinations onimmunological memory. Finally, the expression of TLRs is vast as they are found on thecell membranes of innate immune cells (DCs,macrophages ,natural killer cells ), cells of the adaptive immunity (T and B lymphocytes) and non immune cells (epithelial andendothelial cells ,fibroblasts ). [cite journal |author=Delneste Y, Beauvillain C, Jeannin P |title=Innate immunity: structure and function of TLRs |journal=Med Sci (Paris) |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=67–73 |year=2007 |pmid=17212934]This further substantiates the importance of administering
vaccines with adjuvants in the form of TLR ligands as they will be capable of eliciting their positive effects across the entire spectrum of innate and adaptive immunity. Nevertheless, there are certainly adjuvants whose immune-stimulatory function completely bypasses the putative requisite for TLR signaling. In short, all TLR ligands are adjuvants but not all adjuvants are TLR ligands.Medical complications
Aluminum salts used in many human vaccines are generally regarded as safe; [cite journal |author=Baylor N, Egan W, Richman P |title=Aluminum salts in vaccines--US perspective |journal=Vaccine |volume=20 Suppl 3 |issue= |pages=S18–23 |year=2002 |pmid=12184360 |doi=10.1016/S0264-410X(02)00166-4] however, a recent study revealed that aluminum adjuvants at levels comparable to those administered to Gulf War veterans can cause motor neuron death. [cite journal |author=Petrik MS, Wong MC, Tabata RC, Garry RF, Shaw CA |title=Aluminum adjuvant linked to gulf war illness induces motor neuron death in mice |journal=Neuromolecular Med |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=83–100 |year=2007 |pmid=17114826 |doi=10.1385/NMM:9:1:83]
In veterinary medicine, particularly in felines, adjuvants have been linked to the induction of sarcomas at the injection site in a small proportion of vaccinations. [ [http://www.comvet.com/print/vax_print.html "Feline Post-Vaccinal Sarcoma - A Literature Review,"] Shane Ryan, "Singapore Veterinary Journal," (1998) 22: 65-73.]
Controversy
Recently, the premise that TLR signaling acts as the key node in antigen-mediated
inflammatory responses has been in question asresearchers have observed antigen-mediated inflammatory responses inleukocytes in the absence of TLR signaling. ] [cite journal |author=Wickelgren I |title=Immunology. Mouse studies question importance of toll-like receptors to vaccines |journal=Science |volume=314 |issue=5807 |pages=1859–60 |year=2006 |pmid=17185572 |doi=10.1126/science.314.5807.1859a] Oneresearcher found that in the absence ofMyD88 andTrif (essentialadapter proteins in TLR signaling), they were still able to induce inflammatory responses, increase T cell activation and generate greaterB cell abundancy using conventional adjuvants (alum , Freund’s complete adjuvant, Freund’s incomplete adjuvant, and monophosphoryl-lipid A/trehalose dicorynomycolate (Ribi's adjuvant). ]These observations suggest that although TLR activation can lead to increases in antibody responses, TLR activation is not required to induce enhanced innate and adaptive responses to antigens.
Investigating the mechanisms which underlie TLR signaling has been significant in understanding why adjuvants used during vaccinations are so important in augmenting adaptive immune responses to specific
antigens . However, with the knowledge that TLR activation is not required for the immune-enhancing effects caused by common adjuvants, we can conclude that there are, in all likelihood, other receptors besides TLRs that have not yet characterized, opening the door to futureresearch . Perhapsfuture adjuvants occupying these putative receptors will be employed to bypass the TLRsignaling pathway completely in order to circumvent commonside effects of adjuvant-activated TLRs such as localinflammation and the generalmalaise felt because of the costly whole-body immune response to antigen. Surely, such issues will be the subject of muchdebate for futureresearchers .References
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