Human adenovirus serotype 5 vaccines : routes of delivery and formulations for successful immunization

Delivery of medicinal products to specific targets can be aided by utilizing different routes of administration. Particular routes may be advantageous when delivering products designed for therapeutic drug delivery, gene therapy, or vaccination. Vaccine candidates must remain stable, be delivered to their proper compartments, and promote sufficient immune responses to their delivered antigens, properties that can be modulated by formulation, adjuvants, and alternate routes of administration. Recently, the nasal passageway has been recognized as a promising route, as mucosally delivered vaccines have the advantage of inducing protection at both mucosal surfaces, a common site of infection, and systemically. Human adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) is a candidate vaccine vector capable of being delivered through several routes and inducing strong immune responses to its delivered transgene. The studies presented include vaccination strategies following different routes of administration with various formulation components to determine the ability of Ad5 to deliver its transgene and induce immune responses. The first study screens formulation candidates’ effects on an Ad5-based vaccine’s transduction in vitro, cellular and humoral immune responses in vivo, and efficacy upon challenge in mice. Screening formulation candidates in vitro can eliminate ineffective formulations, thereby limiting animal testing. An Ad5-based Ebola virus vaccine delivered in a combination of mannitol, sucrose, and the surfactant, pluronic F68, improves survival against lethal Ebola challenge in a mouse model compared to delivery in PBS alone. The second study tests the effect of an intravenously delivered Ad5-based vaccine complexed with anti-Ad5 neutralizing antibodies on cellular and humoral immune responses. Different antibody ratios complexed to the Ad5 vector are able to induce disparate cellular and humoral responses. Ratios initiating a strong humoral response towards the Ad5 vector correlate with a reduction of the humoral response against the transgene and few transgene targeted effector T cells. Accordingly, ratios leading to minor humoral responses to the Ad5 vector resulted in stronger humoral responses to the transgene and a strong effector memory T cell response. Taken together, these studies provide insight on how to achieve necessary immune responses in vaccine protocols by testing routes of administration, formulations, and surface modifications of the Ad5 vector.