Vaccines still remain the most successful method for protection and eradication against diseases. Whole organism vaccines though highly effective suffer from numerous adverse effects. This has led to the generation of new generation of subunit vaccines which are composed of a part of the organism. However, these subunit vaccines are weak immunogens and require the use of adjuvants to enhance their efficacy. Adjuvants are essential components of vaccines that nonspecifically stimulate the immune system, particularly the innate immune system cells to enhance the immunogenicity of vaccines. Most commonly used adjuvant in present vaccines is aluminum based such as Alum. Initially the major function of adjuvants was to allow sustained presence of antigens by preventing their degradation in vivo. However, recent advances have led to a significant increase in our understanding of the innate immune system which is highly complex and can be activated via a wide array of receptors to generate different immune responses. The nature of adaptive immune response, quality, and quantity are governed by how the innate immune responses are activated. Novel vaccine adjuvants being developed are exploiting this property to manipulate the immune response in vivo so as to induce tailored immune responses that are effective against specific pathogens or diseases.

We are particularly interested in manuscripts that report the use of pathogen recognition receptor-based vaccine adjuvants including the type of immune response generated, mechanism of action as well as their efficacy against diseases. These can be based on their mechanisms of action. Manuscripts describing the use of novel delivery systems which can be used as adjuvants are welcome. Reviews summarizing clinical trials with novel vaccine adjuvants are also welcome. Therapeutic vaccines are being used increasingly for treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. Reports describing these are also of great interest. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Toll-like receptors as adjuvants
• C-type lectin receptors as adjuvants
• Nutritional supplements as adjuvants
• Liposome or other delivery systems as adjuvants
• Therapeutic vaccines against cancer and autoimmune diseases
• Clinical trials (reviews)

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