title: Interferon-alpha: an effective adjuvant for peptide-based cytotoxic T-cell vaccines.
abstract: An important issue for developing a vaccine therapy for human malignancy is identifying adjuvants that can elicit T-cell responses to peptides. The present study evaluates interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) as a vaccine adjuvant. C57BL/6 mice were immunized subcutaneously with peptide derived from influenza virus (Flu) either with or without IFN-alpha using different vaccine formulations. IFN-alpha significantly enhanced cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) induction in mice immunized with Flu peptide in incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA). Flu peptide administered continuously for 3 days by osmotic pump with IFN-alpha could elicit CTL induction, whereas either Flu peptide or IFN-alpha alone was non immunogenic. Furthermore, injection of the liquid formation of Flu peptide with IFN-alpha in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) did not elicit CTL induction. These results suggest that the continuous administration of peptide and local delivery of IFN-alpha are important for efficient CTL induction, and that IFN-alpha is an effective adjuvant for peptide-based vaccines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume 830-0011, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takasu
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D007114:Immunization; D007252:Influenza Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009698:Nucleoproteins / Q000276:immunology; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D007252:Influenza Vaccines; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D009698:Nucleoproteins