Relationship between the adjuvant and cytotoxic effect of the positive charges in polymerized and non polymerized liposomes

JULIETA GASPARRI; LUCIA SPERONI; NADIA CHIARAMONI; SILVIA DEL V. ALONSO

Viña del Mar, Chile

Congreso; InmunoChile 2009; 2009

  Vaccine development today encounters a main obstacle which is the need for effective adjuvant suitable for clinical trials. Aluminium compounds remains to be the only type of adjuvant currently approved by the FDA. Liposomes represent an alternative approach to vaccine adjuvant. Herein we study the inflammatory response and biological effect of polymerization and the addition of positive charges in liposome formulations. Regarding the specific biological activity of cationic charges, it have been described their capacity to trigger a strong inflammatory process. In this regard, Polly Matzinger proposed, on theoretical grounds, that injury and dying cells might provide a signal that alerts the immune system to danger. Through this process, APCs would efficiently acquire and present antigens from dying cells to T lymphocytes. Therefore, in order to obtain an effective immunoadjuvant activity, it would be desirable that liposome formulations display a certain degree of citotoxicity. The aim of our work was to study the inflammatory response and biological effect of polymerization and the addition of positive charges in liposome formulations. Furthermore, we intended to demonstrate that positive charge could play an important role in the immunoadjuvant effect of liposomes by conferring cytotoxic capacity