Subunit intranasal vaccines offer the prospect of inducing combined systemic-mucosal immunity against mucosally transmitted infections such as human immunodeficiency virus. However, although human studies have demonstrated the induction of active immunity, secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) responses are variable, and no study has demonstrated protection by accepted vaccine-licensing criteria as...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the stimulatory effects of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens SQR9 on dendritic cells (DCs) and to verify its ability to enhance the immune response by modulating DC maturation. The results demonstrated that B. amyloliquefaciens SQR9 can adhere to the nasal epithelium and be taken up by DCs in the nasal mucosa, thereby inducing DC maturation and resulting in ...

The design of heterologous prime-boost vaccine combinations that optimally shape the immune response is of critical importance for the development of next generation vaccines. Here, we tested different prime-boost combinations using the tuberculosis vaccine antigen H56 with CAF01 or CpG ODN 1826 adjuvants, administered by the parenteral and nasal routes. Using peptide-MHC class II tetramers, an...

Mucosal epithelia constitute the first barriers to be overcome by pathogens during infection. The induction of protective IgA in this location is important for the prevention of infection and can be achieved through different mucosal immunization strategies. Lactic acid bacteria have been tested in the last few years as live vectors for the delivery of antigens at mucosal sites, with promising ...

Atherosclerosis bears many similarities to inflammatory/autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis (MS).1,2 Compelling data from experimental models show that such diseases may be treated by vaccination. Will it be possible to attack atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with the same approach? Several studies have shown positive effects of immunization with antigenic...

Cholera toxin (CT) is frequently used as an experimental adjuvant intranasally for the induction of systemic and mucosal immunity. However, CT is highly reactogenic and not approved for use in humans. To define the cytokine requirements for the nasal activation of the systemic and mucosal immune system, and to design new adjuvants with efficacy similar to CT, we defined the cytokines that were ...

The present work reports the use of non-living non-recombinant bacteria as a delivery system for mucosal vaccination. Antigens are bound to the cell-wall of pretreated Lactococcus lactis, designated as Gram-positive enhancer matrix (GEM), by means of a peptidoglycan binding domain. The influence of the GEM particles on the antigen-specific serum antibody response was studied. Following nasal im...

OBJECTIVE Development of antigen-specific strategies to treat or prevent type 1 diabetes has been slow and difficult because of the lack of experimental tools and defined biomarkers that account for the underlying therapeutic mechanisms. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The type 1 diabetes PhysioLab platform, a large-scale mathematical model of disease pathogenesis in the nonobese diabetic (NOD) m...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen which causes sight-threatening corneal infections in humans. The purpose of this study was to evaluate various immunization routes that may provide protection against Pseudomonas keratitis and to define the molecular mechanisms involved in the protection. Sprague-Dawley rats (10 to 12 weeks old) were immunized using paraformaldehyde-killed P. ...