The Pichia pastoris heterologous gene expression system has been utilized to produce attractive levels of a variety of intracellular and extracellular proteins of interest. Recent advances in our understanding and application of the system have improved its utility even further. These advances include: (1) methods for the construction of P. pastoris strains with multiple copies of AOX1-promoter-driven expression cassettes; (2) mixed-feed culture strategies for high foreign protein volumetric productivity rates; (3) methods to reduce proteolysis of some products in high cell-density culture media; (4) tested procedures for purification of secreted products; and (5) detailed information on the structures of N-linked oligosaccharides on P. pastoris secreted proteins. In this review, these advances along with basic features of the P. pastoris system are described and discussed.

Innate immune responses to vaccine adjuvants based on lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a component of Gram-negative bacterial cell walls, are driven by Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 and adaptor proteins including MyD88 and TRIF, leading to the production of inflammatory cytokines, type I interferons, and chemokines. We report here on the characterization of a synthetic hexaacylated lipid A derivative, denoted as glucopyranosyl lipid adjuvant (GLA). We assessed the effects of GLA on murine and human dendritic cells (DC) by combining microarray, mRNA and protein multiplex assays and flow cytometry analyses. We demonstrate that GLA has multifunctional immunomodulatory activity similar to naturally-derived monophosphory lipid A (MPL) on murine DC, including the production of inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, DC maturation and antigen-presenting functions. In contrast, hexaacylated GLA was overall more potent on a molar basis than heterogeneous MPL when tested on human DC and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). When administered in vivo, GLA enhanced the immunogenicity of co-administered recombinant antigens, producing strong cell-mediated immunity and a qualitative TH1 response. We conclude that the GLA adjuvant stimulates and directs innate and adaptive immune responses by inducing DC maturation and the concomitant release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines associated with immune cell trafficking, activities which have important implications for the development of future vaccine adjuvants.

Despite the widespread use of Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) childhood vaccine, tuberculosis (TB) remains a serious global health problem. A successful vaccine against TB that replaces or boosts BCG will include antigens that induce or recall appropriate T cell responses. Four Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) antigens, including members of the virulence factor families PE/PPE and EsX, or antigens associated with latency were produced as a single recombinant fusion protein. When administered with the adjuvant GLA-SE, a stable oil-in-water nanoemulsion, the fusion protein ID93 was immunogenic in mice, guinea pigs, and cynomolgus monkeys. In mice, ID93/GLA-SE combination induced polyfunctional CD4 TH1-cell responses characterized by antigen-specific IFN-gamma, tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-2, as well as a reduction in the number of bacteria in the lungs of animals subsequently infected with virulent or multidrug resistant Mtb strains. Furthermore, boosting BCG-vaccinated guinea pigs with ID93/GLA-SE resulted in reduced pathology and fewer bacilli, and prevented the death of animals challenged with virulent Mtb. Finally, ID93 elicited polyfunctional effector CD4 and CD8 T-cell responses in BCG-vaccinated or Mtb-exposed human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. This study establishes that the protein subunit vaccine ID93/GLA-SE protects against TB and MDR-TB in animals, and is a candidate for boosting the protective efficacy of the childhood BCG vaccine.

The potent and selective killing activity of Ad-mda7 in cancer cells but not in normal cells makes this vector a potential candidate for cancer gene therapy.