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Preparation and In Vitro Evaluation of Imiquimod Loaded Polylactide-based Micelles as Potential Vaccine Adjuvants

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Abstract

Purpose

Activation of immune cells through pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs) or NOD-like receptors (NLRs), has been identified as a key issue in the development of new efficient vaccine adjuvants. We report here on the elaboration and immunostimulatory potential of polylactide (PLA)-based micelles core-loaded with imiquimod TLR7 ligand and able to be further surface-functionalized with antigenic protein (HIV-1 Gag p24) for antigen delivery purpose.

Methods

Micelles prepared from poly(D,L-lactide)-b-poly(N-acryloxysuccinimide-co-N-vinylpyrrolidone) amphiphilic copolymer were incubated in the presence of imiquimod, leading to 1.2 wt% loading, and further conjugated to p24 antigen through reaction of p24 lysines and N-terminal amine with the N-succinimidyl pendant groups of the micelle corona. The impact of imiquimod encapsulation in the micelles on its immunostimulatory properties was investigated in vitro, by monitoring: (i) the NF-κB and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) pathways through experiments with RAW-Blue™ cells, a mouse macrophage cell line encoding an NF-κB/AP-1-inducible reporter construct; (ii) human dendritic cells (DCs) maturation markers by flow cytometry.

Results

RAW-Blue™ cells based experiments showed that imiquimod encapsulated in the micelles was much more efficient to activate the NF-κB and MAPK pathways than free imiquimod. Furthermore, encapsulated imiquimod was found to induce much higher maturation of DCs than the free analog. Finally, these immunostimulatory properties of the loaded imiquimod were shown to be conserved when the p24 antigen was coupled at the micelle surface.

Conclusions

Taken together, these data regarding improved immunostimulatory efficiency suggest the strong potential of our micelle-based nano-system for vaccine delivery.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND DISCLOSURES

This work was funded by the ANR (French National Research Agency) through Euronanomed grant (iNanoDCs) and ANabio research projects, and Fondation Recherche Médicale (FRM) to Vincent Pavot. This work was also partially supported by grants from the two FP7 European grants CUT'HIVAC (no 241904) and ADITEC (no 280873). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Lyon 1, CNRS, UMR 5305, Biologie Tissulaire et Ingénierie Thérapeutique, IBCP, 7 Passage du Vercors, 69367, Lyon Cedex 07, France

    Gloria Jiménez-Sánchez, Vincent Pavot, Christelle Chane-Haong, Céline Terrat & Bernard Verrier

  2. Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, UMR 7273, Institut de Chimie Radicalaire, Avenue Escadrille Normandie-Niemen, 13397, Marseille Cedex 20, France

    Nadège Handké, Didier Gigmes & Thomas Trimaille

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  1. Gloria Jiménez-Sánchez
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  2. Vincent Pavot
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  3. Christelle Chane-Haong
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  4. Nadège Handké
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Correspondence to Vincent Pavot or Thomas Trimaille.

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Jiménez-Sánchez, G., Pavot, V., Chane-Haong, C. et al. Preparation and In Vitro Evaluation of Imiquimod Loaded Polylactide-based Micelles as Potential Vaccine Adjuvants. Pharm Res 32, 311–320 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-014-1465-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-014-1465-5

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