IFN-α as a vaccine adjuvant: recent insights into the mechanisms and perspectives for its clinical use

Abstract

The IFN-α family are pleiotropic cytokines with the longest record of clinical use. Over the last decade, new biological effects of IFN-α on immune cells, including dendritic cells, have been described, supporting the concept that these cytokines can act as effective vaccine adjuvants. Recently, an important advance in our understanding of the mechanisms of interferon adjuvant activity has been achieved. Some clinical studies have been performed to assess the adjuvant activity in individuals immunized with preventive vaccines, showing variable results depending on interferon/vaccine formulation and vaccinated subjects. In spite of many data in animal models, little information is available on the possible advantage of utilizing IFN-α as an adjuvant for cancer vaccines in humans. Further clinical trials specifically designed to explore vaccine adjuvant activity are needed in order to define the best conditions for using IFN-α or IFN-α-conditioned dendritic cells for the development of therapeutic vaccines.

Keywords::

• adjuvant
• cancer
• dendritic cell
• immunity
• infectious diseases
• interferon
• vaccine

Acknowledgements

We thank Ion Gresser for his support, advice and encouragement on our early studies on the immune adjuvant activity of IFN. We are indebted to the many colleagues in our department who, over the years, have provided us with their work and valuable knowledge on the anti-tumor and immunoregulatory properties of IFNs. We particularly thank Stefano Maria Santini, Caterina Lapenta, Stefania Parlato, Eleonora Aricò, Laura Bracci and Maria Ferrantini for their work on IFN and IFN-α–DC interactions. We are very grateful to Cinzia Gasparrini, Angela Fresolone and Anna Ferrigno for their precious secretarial help.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Work in the authors’ laboratory was supported in part by grants provided by the AIRC and Italian Ministry of Health (Special Project on Oncology, PIO). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.