K. Hariharan et N. Hanna, DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF PROVAX(TM) ADJUVANT FORMULATION FOR SUBUNIT CANCER VACCINES, Advanced drug delivery reviews, 32(3), 1998, pp. 187-197
A major challenge facing the development of subunit vaccines comprised
of well-defined recombinant antigens is their weak immunogenicity and
inability to induce effective cytotoxic T cell (CTL) responses. Adjuv
ants aimed at increasing the immunogenicity of recombinant antigens re
main a focus in vaccine development. The potency of an adjuvant is lin
ked to specific stimulation of T cell responses, involving TH1 and TH2
subsets of CD4(+) T helper cells and CD8(+) CTL and B cell-mediated a
ntibody responses. As a result of the existence of two distinct intra-
cellular pathways for antigen processing,: immunization with exogenous
antigens often shows a greater propensity for T helper and antibody r
esponses, but not CD8(+) CTL responses. However, existing experimental
evidence suggests that CD8(+) CTLs, which are critical in the elimina
tion of viral-infected and neoplastic cells, can be elicited with solu
ble antigens when delivered in appropriate formulations or adjuvants.
This review focuses on the properties of PROVAX(TM) adjuvant in induci
ng antigen-specific CTL responses, antibody responses and tumor regres
sion in experimental models and its potential application for the deve
lopment of recombinant cancer vaccines. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.