Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
8.9
5.2
Journals
Vaccines
Special Issues
Advances in Vaccine Adjuvants
share announcement

Advances in Vaccine Adjuvants

A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X). This special issue belongs to the section "Vaccine Adjuvants".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 1281

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Devyani Joshi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Medicine, Emory University, 2015 Uppergate Dr, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Interests: infectious diseases; vaccines; formulation development; immunology; B-cells; SARS-CoV-2; influenza; microparticles; nanoparticles; microneedles; transdermal vaccines
Dr. Sanjeev Kumar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
ICGEB-Emory Vaccine Centre, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), Atlanta, GA 110067, USA
Interests: immunology; vaccinology; neutralizing antibodies; virology; protein engineering

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Remarkable efforts have been made in the field of adjuvants to date that have helped improve the efficacy and reduce the toxicity of the vaccine formulations. The adjuvants increase the speed and duration of the immune response, stimulate cytotoxic T lymphocytes, improve the immune response in immune-compromised adults, newborns, and the elderly, reduce the dose of vaccine antigen and the number of immunizations needed for protective immunity, and increase antibody avidity and specificity. In the last couple of years, microparticle and nanoparticle adjuvants have gained a lot of interest as new-generation adjuvants owing to their particulate nature and enhanced uptake by antigen-presenting cells (APCs).

This Special Issue aims to collect the original articles, reviews, and commentary papers on particulate vaccine adjuvants in infectious diseases and cancer vaccines, the mechanism of adjuvants, formulation development, delivery of adjuvants, the safety and efficacy of adjuvants and induced immune responses, and protection against infectious diseases and cancer. We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Devyani Joshi
Dr. Sanjeev Kumar
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • infectious diseases
  • cancer vaccines
  • mechanisms of adjuvants
  • novel adjuvants
  • delivery systems
  • particulate adjuvants
  • innate immune response
  • adaptive immune response

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 3009 KiB  
Article
Destabilising Effect of Class B CpG Adjuvants on Different Proteins and Vaccine Candidates
by Kawkab Kanjo, Rakesh Lothe, Gaurav Nagar, Meghraj Rajurkar, Harish Rao, Saurabh Batwal, Umesh Shaligram and Raghavan Varadarajan
Vaccines 2025, 13(4), 395; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13040395 - 8 Apr 2025
Viewed by 388
Abstract
Background: Adjuvants function by enhancing the breadth, durability, and magnitude of the immune response, but little is known about their impact on vaccine stability. CpG is a widely used adjuvant that is included in several recently approved COVID-19 vaccines using Spike protein, RBD, [...] Read more.
Background: Adjuvants function by enhancing the breadth, durability, and magnitude of the immune response, but little is known about their impact on vaccine stability. CpG is a widely used adjuvant that is included in several recently approved COVID-19 vaccines using Spike protein, RBD, or whole inactivated virus. Methods: Here, we investigate the in vitro stability of the Receptor-Binding Domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein, as well as a number of other proteins formulated with a class B CpG adjuvant. Results: We show that RBD, BSA, and lysozyme proteins are less thermally stable, more aggregation-prone, and more protease-sensitive in the presence of CpG than without it, and that these effects are enhanced with prolonged incubation. For RBD, the effects of CpG are pH-independent but dependent on the salt concentration, with relative destabilisation decreasing with an increasing salt concentration, indicative of an electrostatic component to the interaction between CpG and the protein. The reduced thermal and proteolytic stability found in the presence of CpG is indicative of a preferential interaction of CpG with the unfolded state of the protein relative to its native state. It remains to be determined if these in vitro characteristics are unique to CpG or are also shared by other non-CpG commercial adjuvants, if they are antigen-dependent, and if and how they correlate with the in vivo immunogenicity of an adjuvanted vaccine. Conclusions: It is demonstrated that the CpG adjuvant is critical to enhancing immunogenicity and is a key reason for the success of multiple licensed commercial vaccines. Nonetheless, our work suggests that careful and systematic in vitro formulation studies may be warranted for the development of suitable, stable formulations of CpG-adjuvanted vaccine candidates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vaccine Adjuvants)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 3807 KiB  
Article
Microneedle Delivery of Heterologous Microparticulate COVID-19 Vaccine Induces Cross Strain Specific Antibody Levels in Mice
by Tanisha Manoj Arte, Smital Rajan Patil, Emmanuel Adediran, Revanth Singh, Priyal Bagwe, Mahek Anil Gulani, Dedeepya Pasupuleti, Amarae Ferguson, Susu M. Zughaier and Martin J. D’Souza
Vaccines 2025, 13(4), 380; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13040380 - 1 Apr 2025
Viewed by 425
Abstract
Background: In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted global health, largely driven by the emergence of various genetic mutations within the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Although the pandemic phase has passed, the full extent of the virus’s evolutionary trajectory remains uncertain, highlighting the [...] Read more.
Background: In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted global health, largely driven by the emergence of various genetic mutations within the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Although the pandemic phase has passed, the full extent of the virus’s evolutionary trajectory remains uncertain, highlighting the need for continued research in vaccine development to establish a cross-reactive approach that can effectively address different variants. This proof-of-concept study aimed to assess the effectiveness of microparticulate vaccine delivery through the minimally invasive microneedle route of administration, using a heterologous prime–booster strategy against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Method: This strategy uses the whole inactivated virus of the Delta variant for the prime dose and the whole inactivated virus of the Omicron variant for the booster dose, with alum as an adjuvant. The formulation of microparticles involves encapsulating the antigens in poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) polymer, which provides sustained release and enhances immunogenicity while protecting the antigen. Microparticles were tested for in vitro assays, and characterization included particle size, zeta potential, and encapsulation efficacy. Furthermore, serum was collected post-administration of the vaccine in mice and was tested for antibody levels. Result: In vitro assays confirmed the non-cytotoxicity and the ability of microparticles to activate the immune response of the vaccine particles. Administering this microparticulate vaccine via microneedles has proven effective for delivering vaccines through the skin. We also observed significantly higher antigen-specific antibody levels and cross-reactivity in the strains. Conclusions: Our adjuvanted microparticulate-based heterologous prime–booster vaccine strategy showed cross-reactivity among the strains and was successfully delivered using microneedles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Vaccine Adjuvants)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-2
Back to TopTop