Use of glycosylceramides as adjuvants for vaccines against infections and cancer

Patent Number: 7,488,491

This patent covers the use of a novel stimulator of natural killer t (NKT) cells which are known to be involved in activation of both dendritic cells and T cells.  Interestingly NKT cells are also involved in the liver and possibility development of fibrosis.

The first independent claim of this patent is "A method for augmenting the immune response induced by an antigen in a mammal comprising conjointly administering to said mammal (i) a recombinant vector expressing an antigen selected from the group consisting of a protein, peptide, and glycoprotein, wherein said recombinant vector that expresses said antigen is selected from a recombinant adenovirus, a recombinant Sindbis virus, naked DNA, and naked RNA, and (ii) a pharmaceutical composition comprising an immunogenically effective amount of an adjuvant comprising a glycosylceramide of the general Formula 1: ##STR00017## wherein R.sub.1, R.sub.2 and R.sub.5 represent H or a monosaccharide; R.sub.3 and R.sub.6 represent H or OH, respectively; R.sub.4 represents H, OH or a monosaccharide; X denotes an integer from 1 to 23; R.sub.7 represents any one of the following groups (a)-(g): (a) --(CH.sub.2).sub.11--CH.sub.3, (b) --(CH.sub.2).sub.12--CH.sub.3, (c) --(CH.sub.2).sub.13--CH.sub.3, (d) --(CH.sub.2).sub.9--CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2, (e) --(CH.sub.2).sub.10--CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2, (f) --(CH.sub.2).sub.11--CH(CH.sub.3).sub.2, and (g) --(CH.sub.2).sub.11--CH(CH.sub.3)--C.sub.2H.sub.5"

View this patent on the USPTO website.