There is an urgent need for new vaccines able to prevent devastating infectious diseases including AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and hepatitis C. Current research to fight these diseases is focused on new vaccines able to harness arms of the immune system which are not efficiently stimulated by existing products. This eagerly awaited new generation of vaccines will be based on innovative adjuvants, those vaccine components which determine the outcome of immune responses. The most promising adjuvant candidates include substances which bind Toll-like receptors (TLR) - a family of receptors expressed on cell membranes -, and activators of the inflammasome, an intracellular machinery responsible for the activation of key immune mediators.

 Research conducted at IMI aims at deciphering the molecular pathways coupled to TLR and the inflammasome in order to identify TLR ligands and inflammasome activators with the best potential to trigger appropriate immune responses. Whereas TLR agonists and inflammasome activators might directly stimulate dendritic cells which present the antigens to the lymphocytes, other products might mediate their adjuvant effects indirectly through an action on other cell types including the so-called gamma-delta T cells or natural killer T cells. IMI scientists also investigate the conditions under which activators of these cell types might behave as efficient adjuvants. 

Besides, critical assessment of vaccines safety is essential for the successful development of new generation vaccines. As far as adjuvants are concerned, a major concern is the putative influence of TLR ligands on the development and course of autoimmune disorders. IMI scientists currently develop several experimental models to address this key question.