Vaccines having an antigen and interleukin-21 as an adjuvant
Disclosed herein is a vaccine comprising an antigen and IL-21. Also disclosed herein are methods for increasing an immune response in a subject. The methods may comprise administering the vaccine to the subject in need thereof.
1. A vaccine comprising
a.) at least one selected from the group consisting of an antigen and a nucleic acid molecule encoding an antigen; and
b.) a nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding IL-21, wherein the nucleotide sequence comprises a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NO: 3 and a nucleotide sequence that is 95% identical or greater to SEQ ID NO: 3.
2. The vaccine of claim 1 , wherein the nucleotide sequence comprises SEQ ID NO:3.
3. The vaccine of claim 1 , wherein the antigen is encoded by a first nucleic acid and IL-21 is encoded by a second nucleic acid.
4. The vaccine of claim 3 , further comprising an antigen peptide encoded by the same nucleic acid sequence as the antigen of claim 3 , and an IL-21 peptide encoded by the same nucleic acid sequence as the IL-21 of claim 3 .
5. The vaccine of claim 3 , wherein the second nucleic acid further comprises an expression vector.
6. The vaccine of claim 1 , wherein the antigen is selected from the group consisting of: a human papilloma virus (HPV) antigen, a Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) antigen, an influenza antigen, a Plasmodium falciparum antigen, a C. difficle antigen, and an antigenic fragment thereof.
7. The vaccine of claim 6 , wherein the HPV antigen is selected from the group consisting of: HPV16 E6 antigen, HPV16 E7 antigen, and a combination thereof.
8. The vaccine of claim 6 , wherein the HIV antigen is selected from the group consisting of: Env A, Env B, Env C, Env D, B Nef-Rev, Gag, and any combination thereof.
9. The vaccine of claim 6 , wherein the influenza antigen is selected from the group consisting of: H1 HA, H2 HA, H3 HA, H5 HA, BHA antigen, and any combination thereof.
10. The vaccine of claim 6 , wherein the Plasmodium falciparum antigen includes a circumsporozoite (CS) antigen.
11. The vaccine of claim 6 , wherein the C. difficle antigen is selected from the group consisting of: Toxin A, Toxin B, and a combination thereof.
12. The vaccine of claim 1 , further comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.
13. A method for increasing an immune response in a subject in need thereof, the method comprising administering the vaccine of claim 1 to the subject.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein administering the vaccine includes electroporation.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein increasing the immune response in the subject includes increasing a cellular immune response, a humoral immune response, or both a cellular and humoral immune response in subject.
16. A nucleic acid molecule comprising one or more nucleotide sequences selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NO:3 and a nucleotide sequence that is 95% identical or greater to SEQ ID NO:3.
17. The nucleic acid molecule of claim 16 , wherein the nucleic acid molecule is a plasmid.