title: Immunogenicity of infectious pathogens and vaccine antigens.
abstract: The concept of the immunogenicity of an antigen is frequently encountered in the context of vaccine development, an area of intense interest currently due to the emergence or re-emergence of infectious pathogens with the potential for worldwide spread. However, the theoretical notion of immunogenicity as discussed in older textbooks of immunology needs reconsideration due to advances in our understanding of immunologic responses. Immunogenicity is a property that can either be a desirable attribute, for example in the generation of an effective protective immunity against infectious pathogens or an undesirable trait, for example when it relates to novel therapeutic compounds and drugs, where an immune response needs to be prevented or inhibited. In this Forum Article, we aimed to revisit the issue of immunogenicity to discuss a series of simple questions relevant to the concept that are frequently rephrased but incompletely resolved in the immunologic literature.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Siddhartha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mahanty
authors.affiliation: Etablissement Français du Sang (EFS) Auvergne-Loire, 42023, Saint-Etienne, France.|EA3064, Université de Lyon, 42023, Saint-Etienne, France.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prigent
authors.affiliation: EA3064, Université de Lyon, 42023, Saint-Etienne, France. ogarraud@ints.fr.|Institut National de la Transfusion Sanguine (INTS), 75015, Paris, France. ogarraud@ints.fr.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Garraud
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation / Q000276:immunology; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D014612:Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens; D000939:Epitopes; D014612:Vaccines