Despite the progress in elucidating antigens for both therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines, safety concerns over current vaccine delivery vehicles and adjuvants has limited the development of new vaccines. In particular, there is an urgent need for effective vaccines capable of stimulating cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses against intracellular pathogens or tumor cells. Liposomes are under investigation as a particulate vaccine delivery system with the required safety profile and demonstrated ability to target antigens to dendritic cells (DC), the cells of the immune system responsible for initiating effective and long lasting CTL immune responses. Unmodified liposomes however, are inherently non-immunogenic and thus not capable of stimulating activation of DC, which is a necessary step in immune activation. In this thesis the use of modified liposomes to more efficiently target vaccine antigens to DC and then activate the DC sufficiently to initiate down-stream immune responses was investigated.
In the first approach to liposome modification, mannosylated phospholipids were incorporated within the liposome bilayer to target C-type lectins on DC. Incorporation of mono- or tri-mannosylated phospholipids within liposomes was found to be an effective means of attaching mannose-containing ligands to the liposome surface without compromising the integrity of the liposome structure. The uptake of tri-mannose-containing liposomes was enhanced in human monocyte derived DC (MoDC) compared to both unmodified liposomes and mono-mannose-containing liposomes. In contrast, neither mono- nor tri-mannose-containing liposomes were taken up by murine bone marrow derived DC (BMDC) to a greater extent than unmodified liposomes. This finding may reflect the differences in ligand specificity for C-type lectins on DC derived from different mammalian species. It was also found in these studies that increased uptake of liposomal antigens by DC does not necessarily result in increased DC activation, as evidenced by a lack of up-regulation of DC surface activation markers and ability to stimulate T cell proliferation.
The second approach to liposome modification involved the incorporation of lipid core peptides (LCPs) into the liposome structure. LCPs alone were demonstrated to be able to stimulate DC and subsequent CD8+ T cell activation in vitro. LCP-based vaccines were also able to stimulate effective cytotoxic immune responses in vivo, and protect against tumor challenge, but only if administered in alum with CD4 help. Liposomes containing LCPs were able to stimulate greater DC activation and subsequent CD8+ T cell proliferation in vitro compared with unmodified liposomes. In the in vivo studies however, LCP-containing liposomes were not able to stimulate a cytotoxic immune response or protect against tumor challenge as effectively as LCP administered in alum.
In the final approach to liposome modification, inclusion of the adjuvant Quil A was investigated for its ability to increase the immunogenicity of LCP-containing liposomes. It was found that small amounts of Quil A could be incorporated into liposomes without compromising the liposome bilayer. The inclusion of as little as 2% Quil A was able to stimulate DC activation and subsequent T cell proliferation in in vitro studies. In addition, immunisation of mice with LCP-containing liposomes with incorporated Quil A was found to stimulate an in vivo CTL immune response comparable to LCPs administered under optimal vaccine conditions.
In conclusion, the work presented in this thesis demonstrates that modified liposomes are a useful vaccine delivery system for the initiation of in vivo cytotoxic and prophylactic immune responses.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/217445 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | White, Karen Louise, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Otago. School of Pharmacy |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://policy01.otago.ac.nz/policies/FMPro?-db=policies.fm&-format=viewpolicy.html&-lay=viewpolicy&-sortfield=Title&Type=Academic&-recid=33025&-find), Copyright Karen Louise White |
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