Open AccessArchaeosomes as novel antigen delivery systems 1
Author(s) -
Sprott G.Dennis,
Tolson Douglas L,
Patel Girishchandra B
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1997.tb12618.x
Subject(s) - cholera toxin , adjuvant , immune system , antigen , bovine serum albumin , liposome , antibody , biology , lipid a , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , immunology , lipopolysaccharide
The humoral immune response mounted in BALB/c mice against bovine serum albumin or cholera toxin B subunit was compared when the antigens were associated with liposomes composed of either archaeal ether lipids or conventional lipids. Antibody titres in sera from mice immunised intraperitoneally were elevated to an extent comparable to those achieved with Freund's adjuvant by encapsulating bovine serum albumin in archaeal lipid vesicles (archaeosomes) of about 200 nm diameter. Comparison among six archaeosome and three conventional liposome compositions established that archaeosomes were generally much superior in potentiating an immune response. Further, only two immunisations, at the most, were needed to achieve close to the maximum antibody titre, as shown with archaeosomes composed of the polar lipids from Methanobrevibacter smithii , an inhabitant of the human colon. A similar positive response to presenting the more immunogenic cholera B subunit protein to the immune system of mice was shown for M. smithii archaeosomes. Encapsulation of the antigen in the archaeosome was necessary to achieve the full humoral response. This represents the first study to our knowledge where archaeosomes have been evaluated in vivo as possible antigen carriers.