免疫学技术

The use of artificial lipid bilayers in the form of vesicles has been described as an efficient means of presenting antigens (1, 2 and Chapter 9). A large variety of natural phospholipids or other polar amphiphiles can be used in an aqueous solution of an antigen to form either unilamellar or multilame ...

The use of saponin in experimental vaccines has been known for more than 60 yr (1, Chapter 9) and generally it is more active as an adjuvant with strongly immunogenic antigens. A number of saponins are derived from the bark of the South American soaptree (Quillaja saponaria) as acylated triterpenoids ...

Despite obvious successes in controlling most serious childhood infections, there is constant pressure to develop cheaper, safer, and more effective infant vaccination programs. However, any improvements to pediatric vaccines in the foreseeable future are likely to arise thro ...

The mucosal immune system is composed of distinct regional immune tissue (e.g., “GALT,” gut-associated lymphoid tissue; “BALT,” bronchus-associated lymphoid tissue; reproductive tract and breast tissue, and so forth) interconnected by trafficking of primed lymphocytes as a comm ...

However effective a therapeutic agent may appear during clinical trials, its full potential as a marketable product can only be assured if the material can be stored and distributed in a stabilized form. This is particularly the case with labile biologlcals, such as attenuated vaccines, espe ...

The fundamental basis of immunity to infectious diseases involves a complex interplay between humoral and cell-mediated immune responses against antigens on the foreign pathogen. Humoral immunity, either in the form of local IgA antibodies at the mucosal site of infection or neutral ...

As part of the assessment of product consistency and putative potency, it is often necessary to check not only that a vaccine contains the desired antigens, but also that they are in the correct immunological form (see Note 1). In general, this immunological characterization of a vaccine is interp ...

New or improved vaccines will require testing before they are licensed for use in the general population. Although toxicity and immunological data can be obtained from phase 1 human trials, in the vast majority of cases, it is not possible to challenge vaccine recipients with the specific infec ...

The transition from laboratory testing to evaluation in humans marks an important stage in vaccine development. Questions about safety and benefit to the patient and to the community may raise difficult ethical issues, whereas the inherent variability of human responses must be taken in ...

Most vaccines are designed as a prophylactic measure, that is, to stimulate the immune response so that on subsequent exposure to the particular infectious agent, the extent of infection in the vaccinated individual is so low that disease does not occur. There is also increasing interest in desi ...

The use of DNA and mRNA as vectors for immunization is a relatively recent development in the field of vaccines. The first paper demonstrating the efficacy of a DNA vaccine in an animal model of viral disease was published in 1993 (1). The rationale for using nucleic acids as vaccines came from the Initial o ...

Ensuring the consistent safety and efficacy of a vaccine has long been recognized as an essential element in a successful disease-control program. Indeed, the development of appropriate laboratory methods to characterize a vaccine with respect to its component antigens, safety, and p ...

In the past there was considerable evidence that cellular rather than antibody responses were more effective for tumor rejection (1). However, the task of identifying the tumor antigens recognized by T-cells was daunting technically. More recently there has been a growing optimism that t ...

Many live virus vaccines derived by empirical routes exhibit temperature-sensitive (ts) phenotypes. The live virus vaccines that have been outstandingly successful in controlling poliomyelitis are the prime example of this phenomenon. The three live attenuated strains devel ...

Since the use of molecular biology and genetic engineering techniques has become widespread, a new generation of candidate vaccines has been developed, including live viral vectors (1, 2). The basis of using recombinant viruses as potential vaccines involves the incorporation of spec ...

The ability of attenuated strains of Salmonella to induce humoral, secretory, and cellular immune responses following oral ingestion has made them attractive as a system for delivering foreign antigens to the mammalian immune system. DNA capable of driving the expression of heterolo ...

Most conventional vaccines consist of killed organisms or purified antigemc components of pathogens. However, this approach of vaccine development has several limitations. Large-scale growth of pathogens may be difficult to achieve and is not completely free of risk. Furthermore, ...

Several pathogens, such as Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Clostridium tetani, Bordetella pertussis, Vibrio cholerae, enterotoxigenic Escherichia co1i (1), and even some emerging pathogens, such as Helicobacter pylori (2), produce potent toxins that are responsible for the pa ...

It was recognized early this century that small molecules, called haptens, can be made immunogenic after conjugation to carrier proteins (1), This principle was thereafter applied successfully to improve the rmmunogenicity of (poly)saccharides (2, 3). We now know that the carrier prote ...

How curious it is that we accept in therapeutic medicine the principle that non-metabolizable sutures, splints and prostheses are good but the employment of non-metabohzable vehicles in preventive medicine is evil Davenport