Positively charged liposome functions as an efficient immunoadjuvant in inducing immune responses to soluble proteins.

To design an optimum liposome immunoadjuvant for soluble protein antigens, we investigated the relationship between liposomal surface charge and adjuvant action. Positively charged multilamellar vesicles (MLV) were taken up efficiently by macrophages, while negatively charged and neutral MLVs were hardly picked up. Consistent with this, positively charged MLVs containing soluble chicken egg albumin (OVA) functioned as a more potent inducer of antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses and antibody production than negatively charged and neutral MLVs containing the same concentrations of antigens. These results indicate that the positive charge on the surface of liposomes represents an important factor for enhancing their immunoadjuvancy in the induction of antigen-specific immune responses.