[The immunological activity of Neisseria meningitidis lipo-oligosaccharide incorporated into liposomes]. / Immunologicheskaia aktivnost' lipooligosakharida Neisseria meningitidis, vkliuchennogo v liposomy.

Immune response to lipooligosaccharide (LOS), isolated from group B N. meningitidis cell wall, was studied after its incorporation into liposomes. The adjuvant effect produced by liposomal LOS, more pronounced in comparison with that produced by native LOS, was observed after the injection of the preparation by different routes (intravenous, intraperitoneal and subcutaneous injections), but the highest level of response was achieved after the intravenous and intraperitoneal injections of the preparation. Experiments aimed at the study of the dynamics of plaque-forming cells and the level of antibodies after intraperitoneal immunization of CBA mice with LOS revealed that immune response to liposomal LOS was more intense and prolonged than that to the free antigen. Liposomal LOS induced genetically nonrestricted and T-independent immune response. This fact was confirmed in experiments on mice having different haplotypes, such as CBA (k), C57BL/6 (b), BALB/c (d) and in nude mice with congenital thymic aplasia. In addition, liposomal LOS induced mainly the accumulation of IgM and IgG and did not produce the effect of immunological memory.

[Effect of preparations on the intracellular cAMP and prostaglandin E content and on the functional activity of antigen-induced B-suppressors]. / Vliianie nekotorykh preparatov na vnutrikletochnoe soderzhanie tsAMF i prostaglandinov E i funktsional'nuiu aktivnost' antigenindutsirovannykh B-supressorov.

Not adhering to a plastic, B-cells of intact or immunized with the suboptimal dose of ram erythrocytes mice were treated in vitro with several agonists and antagonists of cAMP and prostaglandins E and then were transferred to syngenic or allogenic unirradiated recipients. Afterwards the number of the antibody-forming cells against ram erythrocytes was determined. It was shown that a decrease of cAMP and prostaglandin E contents in the intact B-cells results in the appearance of the ability to stimulate the immune response. An increase of cAMP content in the immune B-cells is followed by a reduction of their suppressing activity. The absence of the relationship between this activity and prostaglandin E content in the immune cells is suggested.

Non-specific modulation of the immune response with liposomal meningococcal lipopolysaccharide: role of different cells and cytokines.

The immunomodulating action of Neisseria meningitidis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) incorporated into liposomes and the activation of different populations of immunocompetent cells or the secretion of cytokines were studied. LPS stimulated an anti-sheep red blood cell (SRBC) plaque-forming cell response in the spleen of mice after simultaneous injection of LPS and SRBC but if LPS was administered 3 days before the immunization with SRBC the response to SRBC was strongly suppressed. After the incorporation of LPS into liposomes the stimulation index was increased from 6 to 19 and the liposomal LPS did not suppress the immune response to SRBC. The incorporation of LPS into liposomes leads to enhancement of B-mitogenic properties of LPS, as liposomal LPS stimulated the proliferation of splenocytes in mice better than free LPS and has no influence on the thymocytes. The liposomal LPS induced more prolonged and significant accumulation of IgM-secreting cells in the spleen of mice in comparison with the free LPS. Liposomal LPS also induced more active accumulation of IFN-gamma in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and less active accumulation of monokines, contributing to the realization of the toxic properties of endotoxin (IL-1 alpha, TNF-alpha, IL-6 and GM-CSF). These results demonstrated that the incorporation of N. meningitidis LPS into liposomes dramatically changed its immunomodulating activity. The data obtained are important for the construction of an adjuvant formulation for synthetic immunogens capable of inducing genetically unrestricted immune responses.

Toxicity and immunogenicity of Neisseria meningitidis lipopolysaccharide incorporated into liposomes.

To obtain nontoxic and highly immunogenic lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for immunization, we incorporated Neisseria meningitidis LPS into liposomes. Native LPS and its salts were incorporated by the method of dehydration-rehydration of vesicles or prolonged cosonication. The most complete incorporation of LPS into liposomes and a decrease in toxicity were achieved by the method of dehydration-rehydration of vesicles. Three forms of LPS (H+ form, Mg2+ salt, and triethanolamine salt) showed different solubilities in water, the acidic form of LPS, with the most pronounced hydrophobic properties, being capable of practically complete association with liposomal membranes. An evaluation of the activity of liposomal LPS in vitro (by the Limulus amoebocyte test) and in vivo (by monitoring the pyrogenic reaction in rabbits) revealed a decrease in endotoxin activity of up to 1,000-fold. In addition, the pyrogenic activity of liposomal LPS was comparable to that of a meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine. Liposomes had a pronounced adjuvant effect on the immune response to LPS. Thus, the level of anti-LPS plaque-forming cells in the spleens of mice immunized with liposomal LPS was 1 order of magnitude higher and could be observed for a longer time (until day 21, i.e., the term of observation) than in mice immunized with free LPS. The same regularity was revealed in a study done with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. This study also established that antibodies induced by immunization belonged to the immunoglobulin M and G classes, which are capable of prolonged circulation. Moreover, liposomal LPS induced a pronounced immune response in CBA/N mice (defective in B lymphocytes of the LyB-5+ subpopulation). The latter results indicate that the immunogenic action of liposomal LPS occurs at an early age.