In the March 4 issue of The Journal of Experimental Medicine, Moriya Tsuji and colleagues demonstrate that a glycolipid (a-GalCer) originally isolated from marine sponges can serve just such a purpose act as a CTL promoting adjuvant against malaria when used in conjunction with Plasmodium vaccines. a-GalCer interacts with a receptor on a specialized lymphocyte (NKT cell) that bridges two arms of the immune system, innate and adaptive immunity. By co-injecting a-GalCer with various malaria vaccines, such as irradiated sporozoites and recombinant adenoviruses, Tsuji and colleagues were able to enhance long-lasting CTL mediated immunity against a mouse model of malaria infection. The authors discuss how this adjuvant may be an effective tool in generating vaccines against a variety of intracellular microbial pathogens including HIV.
Corresponding author:
Dr. Moriya Tsuji
New York University School of Medicine
Department of Medical and Molecular Parasitology
341 East 25th St.
New York, NY10010
USA
Tel 212 263-6758
Fax 212 263-8116
e-mail moriya.tsuji@med.nyu.edu
Journal of Experimental Medicine