title: Carbohydrate-based vaccine adjuvants - discovery and development.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The addition of a suitable adjuvant to a vaccine can generate significant effective adaptive immune responses. There is an urgent need for the development of novel po7tent and safe adjuvants for human vaccines. Carbohydrate molecules are promising adjuvants for human vaccines due to their high biocompatibility and good tolerability in vivo.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present review covers a few promising carbohydrate-based adjuvants, lipopolysaccharide, trehalose-6,6'-dibehenate, QS-21 and inulin as examples, which have been extensively studied in human vaccines in a number of preclinical and clinical studies. The authors discuss the current status, applications and strategies of development of each adjuvant and different adjuvant formulation systems. This information gives insight regarding the exciting prospect in the field of carbohydrate-based adjuvant research.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Carbohydrate-based adjuvants are promising candidates as an alternative to the Alum salts for human vaccines development. Furthermore, combining two or more adjuvants in one formulation is one of the effective strategies in adjuvant development. However, further research efforts are needed to study and develop novel adjuvants systems, which can be more stable, potent and safe. The development of synthetic carbohydrate chemistry can improve the study of carbohydrate-based adjuvants.
authors.affiliation: a 1 Jiangnan University, Wuxi Medical School , Lihu Avenue 1800, 214122, Wuxi, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: a 1 Jiangnan University, Wuxi Medical School , Lihu Avenue 1800, 214122, Wuxi, China.
authors.forename: Liying
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: b 2 Jiangnan University, The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology , Lihu Avenue 1800, 214122, Wuxi, China +86 51 085 328 229 ; +86 51 085 328 229 ; jianyin@jiangnan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaoli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: b 2 Jiangnan University, The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology , Lihu Avenue 1800, 214122, Wuxi, China +86 51 085 328 229 ; +86 51 085 328 229 ; jianyin@jiangnan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiaopeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: c 3 University Hospital Essen, Institute of Virology , Hufelandstr, 55, 45122 Essen, Germany +49 2 017 233 530 ; +49 2 017 235 929 ; mengji.lu@uni-due.de.
authors.forename: Mengji
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: b 2 Jiangnan University, The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology , Lihu Avenue 1800, 214122, Wuxi, China +86 51 085 328 229 ; +86 51 085 328 229 ; jianyin@jiangnan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity / Q000276:immunology; D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D015195:Drug Design; D006801:Humans; D014612:Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D002241:Carbohydrates; D014612:Vaccines
keywords: QS-21; adjuvant; carbohydrate; inulin; lipopolysaccharide; trehalose-6,6′-dibehenate; vaccine