Lipid-containing mimetics of natural triggers of innate immunity as CTL-inducing influenza vaccines

Abstract

Anti-viral CD8+ T cell responses can be induced using synthetic lipopeptides and a range of different lipid moieties have been examined in a variety of model systems and in man for this purpose. Nevertheless, only limited data exist on comparative efficacy of different lipopeptides in a single model of protection so that the optimal composition for vaccination purposes remains unknown. In this study, we examined different lipid structures from bacterial or non-bacterial sources coupled to peptides representing influenza viral epitopes recognized by CD8+ and CD4+ T cells. These were assessed in the context of intra-nasal (i.n.) immunization in the absence of added adjuvant. The strongest immu..