Vaccine Adjuvants: Preparation Methods and Research Protocols (Methods in Molecular Medicine, 42)

Adjuvants play a key role in controlling the efficacy of vaccines, through enhancing the immune response to vaccine antigens, including recombinant proteins, protein polysaccharide conjugates, synthetic peptides, or DNA. In Vaccine Adjuvants: Preparation Methods and Research Protocols, Derek T. O'Hagan and a team of expert vaccinologists and pharmacologists thoroughly describe the preparation, characterization, and evaluation of a wide range of alternative vaccine adjuvants for use in preclinical studies. Each chapter carefully reviews a single adjuvant, including suggestions why a specific adjuvant might be preferred for a given antigen, depending on what type of immune response is desired. Alternate adjuvant choices are also presented so that researchers can choose those most efficacious for their specific purpose. The methods, described in full detail, range from the simple mixing of an antigen with a preformed adjuvant, to a complex preparation process requiring the antigens to be physically associated, or entrapped within, an adjuvant formulation.
Comprehensive and highly practical, Vaccine Adjuvants: Preparation Methods and Research Protocols provides an effective guide to making and using vaccine adjuvants. By closely following directions from the book, today's researchers will be able optimally to induce specific immune responses against different types of antigens and to selectively manipulate the immune response in a favorable way. The use of the information in this book will promote the development of powerful new vaccines against infectious diseases and cancers, and may promote the development of products to ameliorate autoimmune disorders.