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Pristine mesoporous carbon hollow spheres as safe adjuvants induce excellent Th2-biased immune response

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Abstract

The development of a safe and effective adjuvant that amplifies the immune response to an antigen is important for vaccine delivery. In this study, we developed pristine mesoporous carbon hollow spheres as high-capacity vaccine protein nanocarriers and safe adjuvants for boosting the immune response. Mono-dispersed invaginated mesostructured hollow carbon spheres (IMHCSs) have an average particle size of ∼200 nm, large pore size of 15 nm, and high pore volume of 2.85 cm3·g–1. IMHCSs exhibited a very high loading capacity (1,040 μg·mg–1) towards ovalbumin (OVA, a model antigen), controlled OVA release behavior, excellent safety profile to normal cells, and high antigen delivery efficacy towards macrophages. In vivo immunization studies in mice demonstrated that OVA-loaded IMHCSs induced a 3-fold higher IgG response compared to a traditional adjuvant QuilA used in veterinary vaccine research. OVA delivered by IMHCSs induced a higher IgG1 concentration than IgG2a, indicating a T-helper 2 (Th2)-polarized response. Interferon-γ and interleukin-4 concentration analysis revealed both T-helper 1 (Th1) and Th2 immune responses induced by OVA-loaded IMHCSs. IMHCSs are safer adjuvants than QuilA. Our study revealed that pure IMHCSs without further functionalization can be used as a safe adjuvant for promoting Th2-biased immune responses for vaccine delivery.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the support from Australian Research Council, the Australian Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility at the Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Queensland, and the Queensland node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF). We appreciate the help of Prof. Ian Fraser and Dr. Stacey Cole for the use of ELISPOT reader at Diamantina Institute and Translational Research Institute at The University of Queensland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Manasi Jambhrunkar, Meihua Yu, Hongwei Zhang, Prasanna Abbaraju, Anand Kumar Meka, Yao Lu & Chengzhong Yu

  2. Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Antonino Cavallaro & Neena Mitter

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  1. Manasi Jambhrunkar
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  2. Meihua Yu
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Correspondence to Neena Mitter or Chengzhong Yu.

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Jambhrunkar, M., Yu, M., Zhang, H. et al. Pristine mesoporous carbon hollow spheres as safe adjuvants induce excellent Th2-biased immune response. Nano Res. 11, 370–382 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1640-1

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