Toward the Development of a Protein: Non-protein Macromolecular Adjuvants

An existing problem being faced in the development of new vaccines is the need for targeting bacterial infections that occur at mucosal sites such as the upper airway and the gastrointestinal tractOvercoming this problem will require the use of novel vaccine formulations andin particularthe use of novel immune enhancing agentsadjuvantsthat promote immune responses that are effective at mucosal sitesIn this studywe will explore the additive and potentially synergistic activities of two potential adjuvants for their ability to specifically induce a balanced immune response to a novel subunit vaccine designed to prevent infection by an enteric pathogenThe ability of the novel adjuvant to promote delivery of protein antigens to antigen presenting cells is expected to promote a robust balanced immune response that is effective against this and other pathogens that infect at mucosal sites