title: Opportunities and challenges of the pulmonary route for vaccination.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The respiratory tract is an attractive target for the delivery of vaccine antigens. Potential advantages of drug delivery by means of the pulmonary route include accessibility, non-invasiveness, ease of administration, and the possibility to reach an elaborate mucosal network of antigen-presenting cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review discusses current pulmonary vaccination strategies and their advantages and disadvantages.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To improve efficiency of vaccination and develop new strategies, a well-founded knowledge about composition and characterization of antigen-presenting cell populations throughout the respiratory tract is essential. In particular, respiratory tract dendritic cells, as key antigen-presenting cells in the lung, constitute an ideal target for vaccine delivery. Furthermore, particle size is a key factor when designing new inhalable vaccines, as size determines not only deposition in different respiratory tract compartments, but also how an antigen and its carrier will interact with lung tissue components and immune cells. An increased knowledge of different respiratory tract antigen-presenting cell populations and their interactions with other components of the immune system will enable new targeting strategies to improve the efficacy of pulmonary vaccination.
authors: Bern University, Pulmonary Medicine, Department of Clinical Research, Murtenstrasse 50, CH-3010 Berne, Switzerland. fabian.blank@dkf.unibe.ch
authors: Fabian
authors: F
authors: Blank
authors: Philip
authors: P
authors: Stumbles
authors: Christophe
authors: C
authors: von Garnier
mesh_terms: D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D012137:Respiratory System / Q000276:immunology*; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines