Nano-microparticles as immune adjuvants: correlating particle sizes and the resultant immune responses

The development of novel immune adjuvants is emerging as a significant area of vaccine delivery based on the continued necessity to amplify immune responses to a wide array of new antigens that are poorly immunogenic. This article specifically focuses on the application of nanoparticles and microparticles as vaccine adjuvants. Many investigators are in agreement that the size of the particles is crucial to their adjuvant activities. However, reports on correlating the size of particle-based adjuvants and the resultant immune responses have been conflicting, with investigators on both sides of the fence with impressive data in support of the effectiveness of particles with small sizes (submicron) over those with larger sizes (micron) and vice versa, while other investigators reported data that showed submicron- and micron-sized particles are effective to the same degree as immune adjuvants. We have generated a list of biological, immunological and, more importantly, vaccine formulation parameters that may have contributed to the inconsistency from different studies and made recommendations on future studies attempting to correlate the size of particulate adjuvants and the immune responses induced. The information gathered could lead to strategies to optimize the performance of nano-microparticles as immune adjuvants.