A Novel Prophylaxis Strategy Using Liposomal Vaccine Adjuvant CAF09b Protects against Influenza Virus Disease.

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic caused a massive health and societal crisis, although the fast development of effective vaccines reduced some of the impact. To prepare for future respiratory virus pandemics, a pan-viral prophylaxis could be used to control the initial virus outbreak in the period prior to vaccine approval. The liposomal vaccine adjuvant CAF®09b contains the TLR3 agonist polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid, which induces a type I interferon (IFN-I) response and an antiviral state in the affected tissues. When testing CAF09b liposomes as a potential pan-viral prophylaxis, we observed that intranasal administration of CAF09b liposomes to mice resulted in an influx of innate immune cells into the nose and lungs and upregulation of IFN-I-related gene expression. When CAF09b liposomes were administered prior to challenge with mouse-adapted influenza A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 virus, it protected from severe disease, although the virus was still detectable in the lungs. However, when CAF09b liposomes were administered after influenza challenge, the mice had a similar disease course to controls. In conclusion, CAF09b may be a suitable candidate as a pan-viral prophylactic treatment for epidemic viruses, but must be administered prior to virus exposure to be effective.

Systematic Investigation of the Role of Surfactant Composition and Choice of oil: Design of a Nanoemulsion-Based Adjuvant Inducing Concomitant Humoral and CD4+ T-Cell Responses.

PURPOSE: Induction of cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses is crucial for vaccine-mediated protection against difficult vaccine targets, e.g., Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct). Adjuvants are included in subunit vaccines to potentiate immune responses, but many marketed adjuvants stimulate predominantly humoral immune responses. Therefore, there is an unmet medical need for new adjuvants, which potentiate humoral and CMI responses. The purpose was to design an oil-in-water nanoemulsion adjuvant containing a synthetic CMI-inducing mycobacterial monomycoloyl glycerol (MMG) analogue to concomitantly induce humoral and CMI responses. METHODS: The influence of emulsion composition was analyzed using a systematic approach. Three factors were varied: i) saturation of the oil phase, ii) type and saturation of the applied surfactant mixture, and iii) surfactant mixture net charge. RESULTS: The emulsions were colloidally stable with a droplet diameter of 150-250 nm, and the zeta-potential correlated closely with the net charge of the surfactant mixture. Only cationic emulsions containing the unsaturated surfactant mixture induced concomitant humoral and CMI responses upon immunization of mice with a Ct antigen, and the responses were enhanced when squalene was applied as the oil phase. In contrast, emulsions with neutral and net negative zeta-potentials did not induce CMI responses. The saturation degree of the oil phase did not influence the adjuvanticity. CONCLUSION: Cationic, MMG analogue-containing nanoemulsions are potential adjuvants for vaccines against pathogens for which both humoral and CMI responses are needed.

Lipid nanoparticles for local delivery of mRNA to the respiratory tract: Effect of PEG-lipid content and administration route.

Design of inhalable mRNA therapeutics is promising because local administration in the respiratory tract is minimally invasive and induces a local response. However, several challenges related to administration via inhalation and respiratory tract barriers have so far prevented the progress of inhaled mRNA therapeutics. Here, we investigated factors of importance for lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-mediated delivery of mRNA to the respiratory tract. We hypothesized that: (i) the PEG-lipid content is important for providing colloidal stability during aerosolization and for mucosal delivery, (ii) the PEG-lipid contentinfluences the expression of mRNA-encoded protein in the lungs, and (iii) the route of administration (nasal versus pulmonary) affects mRNA delivery in the lungs. In this study, we aimed to optimize the PEG-lipid content for mucosal delivery and to investigatethe effect of administration route on the kinetics of protein expression. Our results show that increasing the PEG-lipid content improves the colloidal stability during the aerosolization process, but has a negative impact on the transfection efficiencyin vitro. The kinetics of protein expressionin vivois dependent on the route of administration, and we found that pulmonaryadministration of mRNA-LNPs to mice results inmore durable protein expression than nasaladministration. These results demonstrate that the design of the delivery system and the route of administration are importantfor achieving high mRNA transfection efficiency in the respiratory tract.

The role of nanoparticle format and route of administration on self-amplifying mRNA vaccine potency.

The efficacy of RNA-based vaccines has been recently demonstrated, leading to the use of mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. The application of self-amplifying mRNA within these formulations may offer further enhancement to these vaccines, as self-amplifying mRNA replicons enable longer expression kinetics and more potent immune responses compared to non-amplifying mRNAs. To investigate the impact of administration route on RNA-vaccine potency, we investigated the immunogenicity of a self-amplifying mRNA encoding the rabies virus glycoprotein encapsulated in different nanoparticle platforms (solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) and lipid nanoparticles (LNPs)). These were administered via three different routes: intramuscular, intradermal and intranasal. Our studies in a mouse model show that the immunogenicity of our 4 different saRNA vaccine formulations after intramuscular or intradermal administration was initially comparable; however, ionizable LNPs gave higher long-term IgG responses. The clearance of all 4 of the nanoparticle formulations from the intramuscular or intradermal administration site was similar. In contrast, immune responses generated after intranasal was low and coupled with rapid clearance for the administration site, irrespective of the formulation. These results demonstrate that both the administration route and delivery system format dictate self-amplifying RNA vaccine efficacy.

Adsorption of protein antigen to the cationic liposome adjuvant CAF®01 is required for induction of Th1 and Th17 responses but not for antibody induction.

The degree of antigen adsorption to adjuvants in subunit vaccines may significantly influence the immune responses they induce upon vaccination. Commonly used approaches for studying how the level of adsorption affects the induction of antigen-specific immune responses include (i) using adjuvants with different abilities to adsorb antigens, and (ii) comparing different antigens selected based on their ability to adsorb to the adjuvant. A weakness of these approaches is that not only the antigen adsorption level is varied, but also other important functional factors such as adjuvant composition and/or the B/T cell epitopes, which may affect immunogenicity. Hence, we investigated how changing the adsorption capabilities of a single antigen to an adjuvant influenced the vaccine-induced immune responses. The model antigen lysozyme, which displays a positive net charge at physiological pH due to an isoelectric point (pI) of 11, was succinylated to different extents, resulting in a reduction of the pI value to 4.4-5.9, depending on the degree of succinylation. A pronounced inverse correlation was found between the pI value of the succinylated lysozyme analogues and the degree of adsorption to a cationic liposomal adjuvant consisting of dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide (DDA) and trehalose dibehenate (TDB) (CAF®01). Furthermore, increased adsorption to this adjuvant correlated directly with the magnitude of lysozyme-specific Th1/Th17 immune responses induced by the vaccine in mice, while there was an inverse correlation with antibody induction. However, high lysozyme-specific antibody titers were induced with an increased antigen dose, even upon vaccination with a strongly adsorbed succinylated lysozyme analogue. Hence, these data illustrate that the degree of lysozyme adsorption to CAF®01 strongly affects the quality of the resulting immune responses.

Adjuvanted SARS-CoV-2 spike protein elicits neutralizing antibodies and CD4 T cell responses after a single immunization in mice.

BACKGROUND: SARS-CoV-2 has caused a global pandemic, infecting millions of people. A safe, effective vaccine is urgently needed and remains a global health priority. Subunit vaccines are used successfully against other viruses when administered in the presence of an effective adjuvant. METHODS: We evaluated three different clinically tested adjuvant systems in combination with the SARS-CoV-2 pre-fusion stabilized (S-2P) spike protein using a one-dose regimen in mice. FINDINGS: Whilst spike protein alone was only weakly immunogenic, the addition of either Aluminum hydroxide, a squalene based oil-in-water emulsion system (SE) or a cationic liposome-based adjuvant significantly enhanced antibody responses against the spike receptor binding domain (RBD). Kinetics of antibody responses differed, with SE providing the most rapid response. Neutralizing antibodies developed after a single immunization in all adjuvanted groups with ID50 titers ranging from 86-4063. Spike-specific CD4 T helper responses were also elicited, comprising mainly of IFN-γ and IL-17 producing cells in the cationic liposome adjuvanted group, and more IL-5- and IL-10-secreting cells in the AH group. INTERPRETATION: These results demonstrate that adjuvanted spike protein subunit vaccine is a viable strategy for rapidly eliciting SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies and CD4 T cell responses of various qualities depending on the adjuvant used, which can be explored in further vaccine development against COVID-19. FUNDING: This work was supported by the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 101003653.

Rational design of adjuvants for subunit vaccines: The format of cationic adjuvants affects the induction of antigen-specific antibody responses.

A range of cationic delivery systems have been investigated as vaccine adjuvants, though few direct comparisons exist. To investigate the impact of the delivery platform, we prepared four cationic systems (emulsions, liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles and solid lipid nanoparticles) all containing equal concentrations of the cationic lipid dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide in combination with the Neisseria adhesin A variant 3 subunit antigen. The formulations were physicochemically characterized and their ability to associate with cells and promote antigen processing (based on degradation of DQ-OVA, a substrate for proteases which upon hydrolysis is fluorescent) was compared in vitro and their vaccine efficacy (antigen-specific antibody responses and IFN-γ production) and biodistribution (antigen and adjuvant) were evaluated in vivo. Due to their cationic nature, all delivery systems gave high antigen loading (> 85%) with liposomes, lipid nanoparticles and emulsions being <200 nm, whilst polymeric nanoparticles were larger (~350 nm). In vitro, the particulate systems tended to promote cell uptake and antigen processing, whilst emulsions were less effective. Similarly, whilst the particulate delivery systems induced a depot (of both delivery system and antigen) at the injection site, the cationic emulsions did not. However, out of the systems tested the cationic emulsions induced the highest antibody responses. These results demonstrate that while cationic lipids can have strong adjuvant activity, their formulation platform influences their immunogenicity.

Applying Microfluidics for the Production of the Cationic Liposome-Based Vaccine Adjuvant CAF09b.

Subunit vaccines require particulate adjuvants to induce the desired immune responses. Pre-clinical manufacturing methods of adjuvants are often batch dependent, which complicates scale-up for large-scale good manufacturing practice (GMP) production. The cationic liposomal adjuvant CAF09b, composed of dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDA), monomycoloyl glycerol analogue 1 (MMG) and polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid [poly(I:C)], is currently being clinically evaluated in therapeutic cancer vaccines. Microfluidics is a promising new method for large-scale manufacturing of particle-based medicals, which is scalable from laboratory to GMP production, and a protocol for production of CAF09b by this method was therefore validated. The influence of the manufacture parameters [Ethanol] (20-40% v/v), [Lipid] (DDA and MMG, 6-12 mg/mL) and dimethyl sulfoxide [DMSO] (0-10% v/v) on the resulting particle size, colloidal stability and adsorption of poly(I:C) was evaluated in a design-of-experiments study. [Ethanol] and [DMSO] affected the resulting particle sizes, while [Lipid] and [DMSO] affected the colloidal stability. In all samples, poly(I:C) was encapsulated within the liposomes. At [Ethanol] 30% v/v, most formulations were stable at 21 days of manufacture with particle sizes <100 nm. An in vivo comparison in mice of the immunogenicity to the cervical cancer peptide antigen HPV-16 E7 adjuvanted with CAF09b prepared by lipid film rehydration or microfluidics showed no difference between the formulations, indicating adjuvant activity is intact. Thus, it is possible to prepare suitable formulations of CAF09b by microfluidics.

Delivery of self-amplifying mRNA vaccines by cationic lipid nanoparticles: The impact of cationic lipid selection.

Self-amplifying RNA (SAM) represents a versatile tool that can be used to develop potent vaccines, potentially able to elicit strong antigen-specific humoral and cellular-mediated immune responses to virtually any infectious disease. To protect the SAM from degradation and achieve efficient delivery, lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), particularly those based on ionizable amino-lipids, are commonly adopted. Herein, we compared commonly available cationic lipids, which have been broadly used in clinical investigations, as an alternative to ionizable lipids. To this end, a SAM vaccine encoding the rabies virus glycoprotein (RVG) was used. The cationic lipids investigated included 3ß-[N-(N',N'-dimethylaminoethane)-carbamoyl]cholesterol (DC-Chol), dimethyldioctadecylammonium (DDA), 1,2-dioleoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DOTAP), 1,2-dimyristoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DMTAP), 1,2-stearoyl-3-trimethylammonium-propane (DSTAP) and N-(4-carboxybenzyl)-N,N-dimethyl-2,3-bis(oleoyloxy)propan-1-aminium (DOBAQ). Whilst all cationic LNP (cLNP) formulations promoted high association with cells in vitro, those formulations containing the fusogenic lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE) in combination with DOTAP or DDA were the most efficient at inducing antigen expression. Therefore, DOTAP and DDA formulations were selected for further in vivo studies and were compared to benchmark ionizable LNPs (iLNPs). Biodistribution studies revealed that DDA-cLNPs remained longer at the injection site compared to DOTAP-cLNPs and iLNPs when administered intramuscularly in mice. Both the cLNP formulations and the iLNPs induced strong humoral and cellular-mediated immune responses in mice that were not significantly different at a 1.5 µg SAM dose. In summary, cLNPs based on DOTAP and DDA are an efficient alternative to iLNPs to deliver SAM vaccines.

Design of a novel vaccine nanotechnology-based delivery system comprising CpGODN-protein conjugate anchored to liposomes.

Although the well-known Toll like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist CpGODN has shown promising results as vaccine adjuvant in preclinical and clinical studies, its in vivo stability and potential systemic toxicity remain a concern. In an effort to circumvent these issues, different strategies have been employed to increase its stability, localise action and reduce dosage. These include conjugation of CpGODN with proteins or encapsulation/adsorption of CpGODN into/onto liposomes, and have resulted in enhanced immunopotency compared to co-administration of free CpGODN and antigen. Here, we designed a novel delivery system of CpGODN based on its conjugation to serve as anchor for liposomes. Thiol-maleimide chemistry was utilised to covalently ligate the Group B Streptococcus (GBS) GBS67 protein antigen with the CpGODN TLR9 agonist. This treatment did not alter protein's ability to be recognised by specific antibodies or the CpGODN to function as a TLR9 agonist. Due to its negative charge, the protein conjugate readily electrostatically bound cationic liposomes composed of 1, 2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DSPC), cholesterol and dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide (DDA). The novel cationic liposomes-protein conjugate complex (GBS67-CpGODN+L) shared similar vesicle characteristics (size and charge) compared to free liposomes but exhibited different structure and morphology. Following intramuscular immunisation, GBS67-CpGODN+L formed a vaccine depot at the injection site and induced a remarkable increase of functional immune responses against GBS compared to the simple co-administration of GBS67, CpGODN and liposomes. This work demonstrates that the conjugation of CpGODN to GBS67 in conjunction with adsorption on cationic liposomes, can promote co-delivery leading to the induction of a multifaceted immune response at low antigen and CpGODN doses. Our findings highlight the potential for harnessing the immunostimulatory properties of different adjuvants to develop more effective nanostructure-based vaccine platforms.

The Impact of Solvent Selection: Strategies to Guide the Manufacturing of Liposomes Using Microfluidics.

The aim of this work was to assess the impact of solvent selection on the microfluidic production of liposomes. To achieve this, liposomes were manufactured using small-scale and bench-scale microfluidics systems using three aqueous miscible solvents (methanol, ethanol or isopropanol, alone or in combination). Liposomes composed of different lipid compositions were manufactured using these different solvents and characterised to investigate the influence of solvents on liposome attributes. Our studies demonstrate that solvent selection is a key consideration during the microfluidics manufacturing process, not only when considering lipid solubility but also with regard to the resultant liposome critical quality attributes. In general, reducing the polarity of the solvent (from methanol to isopropanol) increased the liposome particle size without impacting liposome short-term stability or release characteristics. Furthermore, solvent combinations such as methanol/isopropanol mixtures can be used to modify solvent polarity and the resultant liposome particle size. However, the impact of solvent choice on the liposome product is also influenced by the liposome formulation; liposomes containing charged lipids tended to show more sensitivity to solvent selection and formulations containing increased concentrations of cholesterol or pegylated-lipids were less influenced by the choice of solvent. Indeed, incorporation of 14 wt% or more of pegylated-lipid was shown to negate the impact of solvent selection.

Comparison of two different PEGylation strategies for the liposomal adjuvant CAF09: Towards induction of CTL responses upon subcutaneous vaccine administration.

Using subunit vaccines, e.g., based on peptide or protein antigens, to teach the immune system to kill abnormal host cells via induction of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) is a promising strategy against intracellular infections and cancer. However, customized adjuvants are required to potentiate antigen-specific cellular immunity. One strong CTL-inducing adjuvant is the liposomal cationic adjuvant formulation (CAF)09, which is composed of dimethyldioctadecylammonium (DDA) bromide, monomycoloyl glycerol (MMG) analogue 1 and polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid [poly(I:C)]. However, this strong CTL induction requires intraperitoneal administration because the vaccine forms a depot at the site of injection (SOI) after subcutaneous (s.c.) or intramuscular (i.m.) injection, and depot formation impedes the crucial vaccine targeting to the cross-presenting dendritic cells (DCs) residing in the lymph nodes (LNs). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) grafting of CAF09 on the ability of the vaccine to induce antigen-specific CTL responses after s.c. administration. We hypothesized that steric stabilization and charge shielding of CAF09 by PEGylation may reduce depot formation at the SOI and enhance passive drainage to the LNs, eventually improving CTL induction. Hence, the vaccine (antigen/CAF09) was post-grafted with a novel type of anionic PEGylated peptides based on GDGDY repeats, which were end-conjugated with one or two PEG1000 moieties, resulting in mono- and bis-PEG-peptides of different lengths (10, 15 and 20 amino acid residues). For comparison, CAF09 was also grafted by inclusion of 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-methoxy(PEG)-2000 (DSPE-PEG2000) in the bilayer structure during preparation. Grafting of CAF09 with either type of PEG resulted in charge shielding, evident from a reduced surface charge. Upon s.c. immunization of mice with the model antigen ovalbumin (OVA) adjuvanted with PEGylated CAF09, stronger CTL responses were induced as compared to immunization of mice with unadjuvanted OVA. Biodistribution studies confirmed that grafting of CAF09 with DSPE-PEG2000 improved the passive drainage of the vaccine to LNs, because a higher dose fraction was recovered in DCs present in the draining LNs, as compared to the dose fraction detected for non-PEGylated CAF09. In conclusion, PEGylation of CAF09 may be a useful strategy for the design of an adjuvant, which induces CTL responses after s.c. and i.m. administration. In the present studies, CAF09 grafted with 10 mol% DSPE-PEG2000 is the most promising of the tested adjuvants, but additional studies are required to further elucidate the potential of the strategy.

Rational Design and In Vivo Characterization of Vaccine Adjuvants.

Many different adjuvants are currently being developed for subunit vaccines against a number of pathogens and diseases. Rational design is increasingly used to develop novel vaccine adjuvants, which requires extensive knowledge of, for example, the desired immune responses, target antigen-presenting cell subsets, their localization, and expression of relevant pattern-recognition receptors. The adjuvant mechanism of action and efficacy are usually evaluated in animal models, where mice are by far the most used. In this review, we present methods for assessing adjuvant efficacy and function in animal models: (1) whole-body biodistribution evaluated by using fluorescently and radioactively labeled vaccine components; (2) association and activation of immune cell subsets at the injection site, in the draining lymph node, and the spleen; (4) adaptive immune responses, such as cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, various T-helper cell subsets, and antibody responses, which may be quantitatively evaluated using ELISA, ELISPOT, and immunoplex assays and qualitatively evaluated using flow cytometric and single cell sequencing assays; and (5) effector responses, for example, antigen-specific cytotoxic potential of CD8+ T cells and antibody neutralization assays. While the vaccine-induced immune responses in mice often correlate with the responses induced in humans, there are instances where immune responses detected in mice are not translated to the human situation. We discuss some examples of correlation and discrepancy between mouse and human immune responses and how to understand them.

Immunological and physical evaluation of the multistage tuberculosis subunit vaccine candidate H56/CAF01 formulated as a spray-dried powder.

Liquid vaccine dosage forms have limited stability and require refrigeration during their manufacture, distribution and storage. In contrast, solid vaccine dosage forms, produced by for example spray drying, offer improved storage stability and reduced dependence on cold-chain facilities. This is advantageous for mass immunization campaigns for global public health threats, e.g., tuberculosis (TB), and offers cheaper vaccine distribution. The multistage subunit vaccine antigen H56, which is a fusion protein of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) antigens Ag85B, ESAT-6, and Rv2660, has been shown to confer protective efficacy against active TB before and after Mtb exposure in preclinical models, and it is currently undergoing clinical phase 2a testing. In several studies, including a recent study comparing multiple clinically relevant vaccine adjuvants, the T helper type 1 (Th1)/Th17-inducing adjuvant CAF01 was the most efficacious adjuvant for H56 to stimulate protective immunity against Mtb. With the long-term goal of designing a thermostable and self-administrable dry powder vaccine based on H56 and CAF01 for inhalation, we compared H56 spray-dried with CAF01 with the non-spray-dried H56/CAF01 vaccine with respect to their ability to induce systemic Th1, Th17 and humoral responses after subcutaneous immunization. Here we show that spray drying of the H56/CAF01 vaccine results in preserved antigenic epitope recognition and adjuvant activity of CAF01, and the spray-dried, reconstituted vaccine induces antigen-specific Th1, Th17 and humoral immune responses, which are comparable to those stimulated by the non-spray-dried H56/CAF01 vaccine. In addition, the spray-dried and reconstituted H56/CAF01 vaccine promotes similar polyfunctional CD4+ T-cell responses as the non-spray-dried vaccine. Thus, our study provides proof-of-concept that spray drying of the subunit vaccine H56/CAF01 preserves vaccine-induced humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. These results support our ongoing efforts to develop a thermostable, dry powder-based TB vaccine.

Induction of Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Responses Upon Subcutaneous Administration of a Subunit Vaccine Adjuvanted With an Emulsion Containing the Toll-Like Receptor 3 Ligand Poly(I:C).

There is an unmet medical need for new subunit vaccines that induce cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses to prevent infection with a number of pathogens. However, stimulation of CTL responses via clinically acceptable subcutaneous (s.c.) and intramuscular (i.m.) injection is challenging. Recently, we designed a liposomal adjuvant [cationic adjuvant formulation (CAF)09] composed of the cationic lipid dimethyldioctadecylammonium (DDA) bromide, a synthetic monomycoloyl glycerol analog and polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid, which induce strong CTL responses to peptide and protein antigens after intraperitoneal administration. By contrast, CAF09 does not stimulate CTL responses upon s.c. or i.m. injection because the vaccine forms a depot that remains at the injection site. Hence, we engineered a series of nanoemulsions (CAF24a-c) based on the active components of CAF09. The oil phase consisted of biodegradable squalane, and the surface charge was varied systematically by replacing DDA with zwitterionic distearoylphosphoethanolamine. We hypothesized that the nanoemulsions drain to the lymph nodes to a larger extent than CAF09, upon s.c. co-administration with the model antigen chicken egg ovalbumin (OVA). This results in an increased dose fraction that reaches the draining lymph nodes (dLNs) and subsequently activates cross-presenting dendritic cells (DCs), which can prime CTL responses. Indeed, the nanoemulsions induced antigen-specific CD8+ T-cell responses, which were significantly higher than those stimulated by OVA adjuvanted with CAF09. We explain this by the observed rapid localization of CAF24a in the dLNs and the subsequent association with conventional DCs, which promotes induction of CTL responses. Uptake of CAF24a was not specific for DCs, because CAF24a was also detected with B cells and macrophages. No measurable dose fraction of CAF09 was detected in the dLNs within the study period, and CAF09 formed a depot at the site of injection. Importantly, s.c. vaccination with OVA adjuvanted with CAF24a induced significant levels of specific lysis of antigen-pulsed splenocytes were induced after, which was not observed for OVA adjuvanted with CAF09. Thus, CAF24a is a promising adjuvant for induction of CTL responses upon s.c. and i.m. immunization, and it offers interesting perspectives for the design of vaccines against pathogens for which CTL responses are required to prevent infection.

The administration route is decisive for the ability of the vaccine adjuvant CAF09 to induce antigen-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses: The immunological consequences of the biodistribution profile.

A prerequisite for vaccine-mediated induction of CD8(+) T-cell responses is the targeting of dendritic cell (DC) subsets specifically capable of cross-presenting antigen epitopes to CD8(+) T cells. Administration of a number of cationic adjuvants via the intraperitoneal (i.p.) route has been shown to result in strong CD8(+) T-cell responses, whereas immunization via e.g. the intramuscular (i.m.) or subcutaneous (s.c.) routes often stimulate weak CD8(+) T-cell responses. The hypothesis for this is that self-drainage of the adjuvant/antigen to the lymphoid organs, which takes place upon i.p. immunization, is required for the subsequent activation of cross-presenting lymphoid organ-resident CD8α(+) DCs. In contrast, s.c. or i.m. immunization usually results in the formation of a depot at the site of injection (SOI), which hinders the self-drainage and targeting of the vaccine to cross-presenting CD8α(+) DCs. We investigated this hypothesis by correlating the biodistribution pattern and the adjuvanticity of the strong CD8(+) T-cell inducing liposomal cationic adjuvant formulation 09 (CAF09), which is composed of dimethyldioctadecylammonium bromide/monomycoloyl glycerol liposomes with polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid electrostatically adsorbed to the surface. Biodistribution studies with radiolabeled CAF09 and a surface-adsorbed model antigen [ovalbumin (OVA)] showed that a significantly larger fraction of the vaccine dose localized in the draining lymph nodes (dLNs) and the spleen 6h after i.p. immunization, as compared to after i.m. immunization. Studies with fluorescently labelled OVA+CAF09 demonstrated a preferential association of OVA+CAF09 to DCs/monocytes, as compared to macrophages and B cells, following i.p. immunization. Administration of OVA+CAF09 via the i.p. route did also result in DC activation, whereas no DC activation could be measured within the same period with unadjuvanted OVA and OVA+CAF09 administered via the s.c. or i.m. routes. In the dLNs, the highest level of activated, cross-presenting CD8α(+) DCs was detected at 24h post immunization, whereas an influx of activated, migrating and cross-presenting CD103(+) DCs to the dLNs could be measured after 48h. This suggests that the CD8α(+) DCs are activated by self-draining OVA+CAF09 in the lymphoid organs, whereas the CD103(+) DCs are stimulated by the OVA+CAF09 at the SOI. These results support the hypothesis that the self-drainage of OVA+CAF09 to the draining LNs is required for the activation of CD8α(+) DCs, while the migratory CD103(+) DCs may play a role in sustaining the subsequent induction of strong CD8(+) T-cell responses.

Induction of CD8+ T-cell responses against subunit antigens by the novel cationic liposomal CAF09 adjuvant.

Vaccines inducing cytotoxic T-cell responses are required to achieve protection against cancers and intracellular infections such as HIV and Hepatitis C virus. Induction of CD8+ T cell responses in animal models can be achieved by the use of viral vectors or DNA vaccines but so far without much clinical success. Here we describe the novel CD8+ T-cell inducing adjuvant, cationic adjuvant formulation (CAF) 09, consisting of dimethyldioctadecylammonium (DDA)-liposomes stabilized with monomycoloyl glycerol (MMG)-1 and combined with the TLR3 ligand, Poly(I:C). Different antigens from tuberculosis (TB10.3, H56), HIV (Gag p24), HPV (E7) and the model antigen ovalbumin were formulated with CAF09 and administering these vaccines to mice resulted in a high frequency of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells. CAF09 was superior in its ability to induce antigen-specific CD8+ T cells as compared to other previously described CTL-inducing adjuvants, CAF05 (DDA/trehalose dibehenate (TDB)/Poly(I:C)), Aluminium/monophosphoryl lipid-A (MPL) and Montanide/CpG/IL-2. The optimal effect was obtained when the CAF09-adjuvanted vaccine was administered by the i.p. route, whereas s.c. administration primed limited CD8+ T-cell responses. The CD4+ T cells induced by CAF09 were mainly of an effector-memory-like phenotype and the CD8+ T cells were highly cytotoxic. Finally, in a mouse therapeutic skin tumor model, the HPV-16 E7 antigen formulated in CAF09 significantly reduced the growth of already established subcutaneous E7-expressing TC-1 tumors in 38% of the mice and in a corresponding prophylactic model 100% of the mice were protected. Thus, CAF09 is a potent new adjuvant which is able to induce CD8+ T-cell responses against several antigens and to enhance the protective efficacy of an E7 vaccine both in a therapeutic and in a prophylactic tumor model.

Designing CAF-adjuvanted dry powder vaccines: spray drying preserves the adjuvant activity of CAF01.

Dry powder vaccine formulations are highly attractive due to improved storage stability and the possibility for particle engineering, as compared to liquid formulations. However, a prerequisite for formulating vaccines into dry formulations is that their physicochemical and adjuvant properties remain unchanged upon rehydration. Thus, we have identified and optimized the parameters of importance for the design of a spray dried powder formulation of the cationic liposomal adjuvant formulation 01 (CAF01) composed of dimethyldioctadecylammonium (DDA) bromide and trehalose 6,6'-dibehenate (TDB) via spray drying. The optimal excipient to stabilize CAF01 during spray drying and for the design of nanocomposite microparticles was identified among mannitol, lactose and trehalose. Trehalose and lactose were promising stabilizers with respect to preserving liposome size, as compared to mannitol. Trehalose and lactose were in the glassy state upon co-spray drying with the liposomes, whereas mannitol appeared crystalline, suggesting that the ability of the stabilizer to form a glassy matrix around the liposomes is one of the prerequisites for stabilization. Systematic studies on the effect of process parameters suggested that a fast drying rate is essential to avoid phase separation and lipid accumulation at the surface of the microparticles during spray drying. Finally, immunization studies in mice with CAF01 in combination with the tuberculosis antigen Ag85B-ESAT6-Rv2660c (H56) demonstrated that spray drying of CAF01 with trehalose under optimal processing conditions resulted in the preservation of the adjuvant activity in vivo. These data demonstrate the importance of liposome stabilization via optimization of formulation and processing conditions in the engineering of dry powder liposome formulations.