Browsing by Author "Nativi, C."

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    Antigenic GM3 lactone mimetic molecule integrated mannosylated glycopeptide nanofibers for the activation and maturation of dendritic cells
    (American Chemical Society, 2017) Gunay, Gokhan; Ekiz, Melis Sardan; Ferhati, X.; Richichi, B.; Nativi, C.; Tekinay, Ayse B.; Güler, Mustafa O.
    The ability of dendritic cells to coordinate innate and adaptive immune responses makes them essential targets for vaccination strategies. Presentation of specific antigens by dendritic cells is required for the activation of the immune system against many pathogens and tumors, and nanoscale materials can be functionalized for active targeting of dendritic cells. In this work, we integrated an immunogenic, carbohydrate melanoma-associated antigen-mimetic GM3-lactone molecule into mannosylated peptide amphiphile nanofibers to target dendritic cells through DC-SIGN receptor. Based on morphological and functional analyses, when dendritic cells were treated with peptide nanofiber carriers, they showed significant increase in antigen internalization and a corresponding increase in the surface expression of the activation and maturation markers CD86, CD83 and HLA-DR, in addition to exhibiting a general morphology consistent with dendritic cell maturation. These results indicate that mannosylated peptide amphiphile nanofiber carriers are promising candidates to target dendritic cells for antigen delivery. © 2017 American Chemical Society.
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    Modulation of immune responses using adjuvants to facilitate therapeutic vaccination
    (Wiley, 2020) Schijns, V.; Fernández‐Tejada, A.; Barjaktarović, Ž.; Bouzalas, I.; Brimnes, J.; Chernysh, S.; Gizurarson, S.; Gürsel, İhsan; Jakopin, Ž.; Lawrenz, M.; Nativi, C.; Paul, S.; Pedersen, G. K.; Rosano, C.; Ruiz‐de‐Angulo, A.; Slütter, B.; Thakur, A.; Christensen, D.; Lavelle, Ed. C.
    Therapeutic vaccination offers great promise as an intervention for a diversity of infectious and non‐infectious conditions. Given that most chronic health conditions are thought to have an immune component, vaccination can at least in principle be proposed as a therapeutic strategy. Understanding the nature of protective immunity is of vital importance, and the progress made in recent years in defining the nature of pathological and protective immunity for a range of diseases has provided an impetus to devise strategies to promote such responses in a targeted manner. However, in many cases, limited progress has been made in clinical adoption of such approaches. This in part results from a lack of safe and effective vaccine adjuvants that can be used to promote protective immunity and/or reduce deleterious immune responses. Although somewhat simplistic, it is possible to divide therapeutic vaccine approaches into those targeting conditions where antibody responses can mediate protection and those where the principal focus is the promotion of effector and memory cellular immunity or the reduction of damaging cellular immune responses as in the case of autoimmune diseases. Clearly, in all cases of antigen‐specific immunotherapy, the identification of protective antigens is a vital first step. There are many challenges to developing therapeutic vaccines beyond those associated with prophylactic diseases including the ongoing immune responses in patients, patient heterogeneity, and diversity in the type and stage of disease. If reproducible biomarkers can be defined, these could allow earlier diagnosis and intervention and likely increase therapeutic vaccine efficacy. Current immunomodulatory approaches related to adoptive cell transfers or passive antibody therapy are showing great promise, but these are outside the scope of this review which will focus on the potential for adjuvanted therapeutic active vaccination strategies.
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    Rational vaccine design in times of emerging diseases: The critical choices of immunological correlates of protection, vaccine antigen and immunomodulation
    (MDPI AG, 2021-04-06) Schijns, V.; Majhen, D.; Ley, P.; Thakur, A.; Summerfield, A.; Berisio, R.; Nativi, C.; Fernández-Tejada, A.; Alvarez-Dominguez, C.; Gizurarson, S.; Zamyatina, A.; Molinaro, A.; Rosano, C.; Jakopin, Z.; McClean, S.; Gürsel, İhsan
    Vaccines are the most effective medical intervention due to their continual success in preventing infections and improving mortality worldwide. Early vaccines were developed empirically however, rational design of vaccines can allow us to optimise their efficacy, by tailoring the immune response. Establishing the immune correlates of protection greatly informs the rational design of vaccines. This facilitates the selection of the best vaccine antigens and the most appropriate vaccine adjuvant to generate optimal memory immune T cell and B cell responses. This review outlines the range of vaccine types that are currently authorised and those under development. We outline the optimal immunological correlates of protection that can be targeted. Finally we review approaches to rational antigen selection and rational vaccine adjuvant design. Harnessing current knowledge on protective immune responses in combination with critical vaccine components is imperative to the prevention of future life-threatening diseases.