UMass Chan Medical School Faculty Publications
Title
The Vaccine Adjuvant Chitosan Promotes Cellular Immunity via DNA Sensor cGAS-STING-Dependent Induction of Type I Interferons
UMMS Affiliation
Program in Innate Immunity; Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Department of Medicine
Publication Date
2016-03-15
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Immunology and Infectious Disease
Abstract
The cationic polysaccharide chitosan is an attractive candidate adjuvant capable of driving potent cell-mediated immunity, but the mechanism by which it acts is not clear. We show that chitosan promotes dendritic cell maturation by inducing type I interferons (IFNs) and enhances antigen-specific T helper 1 (Th1) responses in a type I IFN receptor-dependent manner. The induction of type I IFNs, IFN-stimulated genes and dendritic cell maturation by chitosan required the cytoplasmic DNA sensor cGAS and STING, implicating this pathway in dendritic cell activation. Additionally, this process was dependent on mitochondrial reactive oxygen species and the presence of cytoplasmic DNA. Chitosan-mediated enhancement of antigen specific Th1 and immunoglobulin G2c responses following vaccination was dependent on both cGAS and STING. These findings demonstrate that a cationic polymer can engage the STING-cGAS pathway to trigger innate and adaptive immune responses.
DOI of Published Version
10.1016/j.immuni.2016.02.004
Source
Immunity. 2016 Mar 15;44(3):597-608. doi: 10.1016/j.immuni.2016.02.004. Epub 2016 Mar 2. Link to article on publisher's site
Related Resources
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Immunity
PubMed ID
26944200
Repository Citation
Carroll EC, Fitzgerald KA, Lavelle EC. (2016). The Vaccine Adjuvant Chitosan Promotes Cellular Immunity via DNA Sensor cGAS-STING-Dependent Induction of Type I Interferons. UMass Chan Medical School Faculty Publications. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2016.02.004. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/faculty_pubs/1147
Comments
Full author list omitted for brevity. For full list of authors see article.