Tag Archives: Interleukin 12

Nasal spray vaccines

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Scientists from Albany Medical College, New York, are one step closer in developing a nasal spray that is more effective against flu, pneumonia and even bioterrorism agents, such as Yersinia pestis that causes the plague, than an injection.

They showed how including a natural immune chemical with standard vaccines could boost their protective effect when delivered through the nose.

The respiratory tract is a major entry site for various viral and bacterial pathogens.

However, there are few approved vaccines that can provide optimal protection against them due to the low immune response at muscosal surfaces such as the nasal passage.

Nasal spray

Nasal spray

Combining standard vaccines for respiratory pathogens with the immune chemical, interleukin-12 (IL-12) and delivering them intranasally to mice has been shown to induce high levels of protection. Vaccines against various respiratory pathogens were tested, including influenza virus, pneumococcal bacteria and Yersinia pestis – a Category A Biothreat. IL-12 is a natural immune chemical, known as a cytokine. It is a powerful stimulator of the immune response through its interactions with other immune chemicals and the white blood cells that produce them.

“Infectious agents still account for around 25 pc of deaths worldwide and the major killers are acute respiratory infections. However, it is difficult to induce immunity at the site of entry and so standard vaccines are only partially protective,” said Prof Dennis Metzger.

“Intranasal vaccination gets around this problem by inducing immunity in the pulmonary passage. This prevents initial infection as well as systemic complications”. Up until now, nasal vaccination has only resulted in sufficient immune responses for very specific types of vaccine. “We now have evidence that this method could work for a wide range of vaccines when IL-12 is included in formulation,” he said.


Nasal vaccines could have a number of other advantages over vaccines that must be injected.

“Vaccination via a nasal spray is a non-invasive procedure that is easier than administering vaccines by injection. In addition our results have shown that antibodies induced by intranasal vaccination are effective not only in preventing infection but can also protect the pulmonary tract in a therapeutic manner after pathogen exposure,” explained Metzger.

“In the case of a bioterrorism threat or an influenza pandemic, this is significant,’ added Metzger.

The study was presented at the Society for General Microbiology”s Spring Conference in Harrogate.

Cancer killing gene discovered

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A ‘masterswitch’ in the body’s battle against cancer has been identified by British scientists, raising hope of new treatments.

The key gene triggers the production of blood cells capable of fighting – and killing – tumour cells.

The cells form part of the body’s natural armoury against disease and we all have some.

But making more could bolster our defence, saving some of the 155,000 lives lost each year to cancer in the UK.

The findings could also shed light on the immune system’s role in other conditions such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

Infusions of natural killer cells donated from volunteers are already given to some cancer patients. However, because they come from another person, they are not a complete match and so do not work as well.

Colon cancer cells

Colon cancer cells

The discovery of the ‘master-switch’ – a gene called E4bp4 that causes ‘blank’ stem cells to turn into natural killer cells – paves the way for a drug to boost the patient’s own stock of the cells.

Researcher Hugh Brady, of Imperial College London, said: ‘The natural killer cell was like the Cinderella of the white blood cells, we didn’t know very much about them.

‘We knew a little bit about how they work but we didn’t know where they came from.

‘We stumbled on this when researching childhood leukaemia. We thought the gene was involved in that. It turns it probably isn’t but it has a very important role in the immune system.

‘With a bit of serendipity we have found the key to the pathway that gives rise to natural killer cells.’


To investigate the role of the gene, Dr Brady genetically engineered mice who lacked it. The mice made other types of blood cell as normal but did not make any natural killer cells.

This proves the gene to be pivotal in the production of natural killer cells, which fight viruses and bacteria as well as cancers, the journal Nature Immunology reports.

The researchers are now hunting for a drug that could increase cancer patients’ production of these natural killer cells, and, it is hoped, their odds of beating the disease.