A novel vaccine delivery system using immunopotentiating fusogenic liposomes.

We previously reported the preparation and characterization of fusogenic liposomes (FLs), which have two highly immunogenic glycoproteins of the Sendai virus on their surface. In this report, we investigated the capacity of FLs to enhance antigen-specific humoral immunity in mice. FLs function as a lymphocyte mitogen with high immunogenicity consistent with viral envelope proteins. Markedly increased levels of anti-ovalbumin (OVA) antibody were detected in serum from mice immunized with OVA encapsulated in FLs compared to sera from mice immunized with free OVA or OVA encapsulated in plain liposomes. An anti-OVA antibody response was not observed in mice immunized with OVA simply mixed with empty FLs. These results indicate that FLs function as a novel immunoadjuvant in inducing antigen-specific antibody production. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.