Tritto Elaine, Mosca Flaviana, De Gregorio Ennio
Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Via Fiorentina, 1 - 53100 Siena, Italy.
Vaccine. 2009 May 26;27(25-26):3331-4. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.01.084. Epub 2009 Feb 5.
Despite the fact that alum and oil-in-water emulsions have been used for decades as human vaccine adjuvants in a large number of individuals, their mechanism of action is not completely understood. It has been reported that these particulate adjuvants act by increasing antigen availability and uptake by immune cells. However, recent work on alum and on the squalene-based emulsion MF59, has demonstrated that besides antigen delivery functions, these classes of adjuvants can also activate innate immunity pathways in vivo, generating an immunocompetent environment at injection site. Interestingly, it has been demonstrated that alum adjuvanticity depends on the activation of a protein complex called NLPR3/inflammasome, which is required for the correct processing of a number of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL1beta. More work needs to be performed to investigate if the inflammasome is also required for the activity of MF59 and of other particulate vaccine adjuvants.
尽管明矾和水包油乳剂作为人类疫苗佐剂已在大量人群中使用了数十年，但其作用机制尚未完全明确。据报道，这些颗粒佐剂通过增加免疫细胞对抗原的可及性和摄取来发挥作用。然而，最近关于明矾和基于角鲨烯的乳剂MF59的研究表明，除了抗原递呈功能外，这类佐剂还能在体内激活固有免疫途径，在注射部位产生免疫活性环境。有趣的是，已证实明矾的佐剂活性取决于一种名为NLPR3/炎症小体的蛋白复合物的激活，而该复合物是包括IL1β在内的多种促炎细胞因子正确加工所必需的。还需要开展更多研究来探究炎症小体是否也是MF59和其他颗粒疫苗佐剂活性所必需的。
