PURPOSE We attempted to augment immunity to melanoma antigens using interleukin-12 (IL-12) with aluminum hydroxide (alum) for sustained release or granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) added to a multipeptide vaccine. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Sixty patients with high-risk resected melanoma were randomized to receive melanoma peptides gp100(209-217) (210M), MART-1(26-35) (27L), ...

B. anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax. Pathogenesis is primarily mediated through the exotoxins lethal factor and edema factor, which bind protective antigen (PA) to gain entry into the host cell. The current anthrax vaccine (AVA, Biothrax) consists of aluminum-adsorbed cell-free filtrates of unencapsulated B. anthracis, wherein PA is thought to be the principle target of neutralizatio...

The Salton Sea is the largest inland water body in California, covering an area of 980 km(2). Inflow to the Salton Sea (1.6 km(3) yr(-1)) is predominately nutrient-rich agricultural wastewater, which has led to eutrophication. Because internal phosphorus release from the bottom sediments is comparatively low and external phosphorus loading to the Salton Sea is high, reduction of tributary phosp...

Normally, neutrophil pools are maintained by homeostatic mechanisms that require the transcription factor C/EBPα. Inflammation, however, induces neutrophilia through a distinct pathway of "emergency" granulopoiesis that is dependent on C/EBPβ. Here, we show in mice that alum triggers emergency granulopoiesis through the IL-1RI-dependent induction of G-CSF. G-CSF/G-CSF-R neutralization impairs p...

Truly environmentally friendly means of detoxifying chemical warfare agents have yet to be developed. Toward this end, Soman (GD), VX and agent simulants were treated with aqueous aluminum sulfate (alum), sodium aluminate, or mixtures of the two. The mixtures were prepared by combining varying volumes of the aqueous salts to give buffered solutions (pH 2-12). Reactions were tracked using phosph...

Recovery of cellulose fibres from paper mill effluent has been studied using common polysaccharides or biopolymers such as Guar gum, Xanthan gum and Locust bean gum as flocculent. Guar gum is commonly used in sizing paper and routinely used in paper making. The results have been compared with the performance of alum, which is a common coagulant and a key ingredient of the paper industry. Guar g...

OBJECTIVE GAD formulated in aluminum hydroxide (GAD-alum) has previously been shown to induce preservation of residual insulin secretion in recent-onset type 1 diabetes, but recent phase II and III GAD-alum trials failed to reach primary outcomes. The European phase III study was therefore closed after 15 months, and only a minority of patients completed the 30 months of follow-up. RESEARCH D...

Background & Objective: DNA vaccines as a new generation of vaccines require adjuvant to improve vaccine immunogenicity; adjuvants can also increase the DNA vaccine efficacy. In this study, the effects of the host’s interferon-inducible Mx protein as bio adjuvant and conventional alum adjuvant were evaluated.   Materials & Methods: The BALB/c mice were immunized by different prime-boost strate...

Adjuvants are vaccine additives that stimulate the immune system without having any specific antigenic effect of itself. In this study we show that alum adjuvant induces the release of IL-1beta from macrophages and dendritic cells and that this is abrogated in cells lacking various NALP3 inflammasome components. The NALP3 inflammasome is also required in vivo for the innate immune response to O...