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Review
. 2017 Jan 2;13(1):19-33.
doi: 10.1080/21645515.2016.1225635. Epub 2016 Sep 16.

From discovery to licensure, the Adjuvant System story

Nathalie Garçon  1 , Alberta Di Pasquale  2
Affiliations
Review

From discovery to licensure, the Adjuvant System story

Nathalie Garçon et al. Hum Vaccin Immunother. .

Abstract

Adjuvants are substances added to vaccines to improve their immunogenicity. Used for more than 80 years, aluminum, the first adjuvant in human vaccines, proved insufficient to develop vaccines that could protect against new challenging pathogens such as HIV and malaria. New adjuvants and new combinations of adjuvants (Adjuvant Systems) have opened the door to the delivery of improved and new vaccines against re-emerging and difficult pathogens. Adjuvant Systems concept started through serendipity. The access to new developments in technology, microbiology and immunology have been instrumental for the dicephering of what they do and how they do it. This knowledge opens the door to more rational vaccine design with implications for developing new and better vaccines.

Keywords: adaptive immune response; adjuvant; adjuvant system; adjuvanted vaccine; innate immune response; vaccine development.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Evolution of knowledge and tools in immunology. Cr release assay = chromium release assay, MHC = major histocompatibility complex, Treg = T-regulatory cells, TLR = toll-like receptors, NLR = NOD-like receptors.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Adjuvant Systems: key developmental milestones. POC = proof of concept.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Lytic action of QS-21 is abrogated in cholesterol-based liposomes.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
General mode of action of an adjuvant (adapted from104).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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