Type I IFN as a natural adjuvant for a protective immune response: lessons from the influenza vaccine model

Enrico Proietti; Laura Bracci; Simona Puzelli; Tiziana Di Pucchio; Paola Sestili; Enrico De Vincenzi; Massimo Venditti; Imerio Capone; Isabelle Seif; Edward De Maeyer; David Tough; Isabella Donatelli; Filippo Belardelli

doi:10.4049/jimmunol.169.1.375

Type I IFN as a natural adjuvant for a protective immune response: lessons from the influenza vaccine model

J Immunol. 2002 Jul 1;169(1):375-83. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.169.1.375.

Authors

Enrico Proietti¹, Laura Bracci, Simona Puzelli, Tiziana Di Pucchio, Paola Sestili, Enrico De Vincenzi, Massimo Venditti, Imerio Capone, Isabelle Seif, Edward De Maeyer, David Tough, Isabella Donatelli, Filippo Belardelli

Affiliation

¹ Department of Virology, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy. [email protected]

PMID: 12077267
DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.169.1.375

Abstract

The identification of natural adjuvants capable of selectively promoting an efficient immune response against infectious agents would represent an important advance in immunology, with direct implications for vaccine development, whose progress is generally hampered by the difficulties in defining powerful synthetic adjuvants suitable for clinical use. Here, we demonstrate that endogenous type I IFN is necessary for the Th1 type of immune response induced by typical adjuvants in mice and that IFN itself is an unexpectedly powerful adjuvant when administered with the human influenza vaccine, for inducing IgG2a and IgA production and conferring protection from virus challenge. The finding that these cytokines, currently used in patients, are necessary for full expression of adjuvant activity and are sufficient for the generation of a protective immune response opens new perspectives in understanding the basis of immunity and in vaccine development.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adjuvants, Immunologic / administration & dosage*
Adjuvants, Immunologic / physiology
Administration, Intranasal
Animals
Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic
Epitopes / administration & dosage
Epitopes / immunology
Female
Immunity, Cellular / genetics
Immunity, Innate / genetics
Immunization Schedule
Immunoglobulin A / biosynthesis
Immunoglobulin A / blood
Immunoglobulin G / biosynthesis
Immunoglobulin G / blood
Influenza Vaccines / administration & dosage*
Influenza Vaccines / immunology*
Injections, Intradermal
Injections, Intraperitoneal
Interferon Type I / administration & dosage*
Interferon Type I / biosynthesis
Interferon Type I / physiology
Male
Mice
Mice, Inbred C3H
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Knockout
Models, Immunological*
Nasal Mucosa / immunology
Ovalbumin / administration & dosage
Ovalbumin / immunology

Substances

Adjuvants, Immunologic
Epitopes
Immunoglobulin A
Immunoglobulin G
Influenza Vaccines
Interferon Type I
Ovalbumin