Liposomes as immune adjuvants: T cell dependence

The T cell dependence of the immune adjuvant action of liposomes containing the soluble antigens bovine serum albumin (BSA) and chicken immunoglobulin (CIgG) was studied with use of a quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure serum antibody levels. Normal BALB/c mice, adult thymectomized mice, and congenitally athymic (nu+/nu+) mice were intravenously inoculated with liposomes containing BSA (Lip-BSA). The high levels of serum anti-BSA antibody that were seen in the normal group were decreased in the adult thymectomized group and were almost completely abrogated in the nu+/nu+ group. Reconstitution of nu+/nu+ mice with normal thymocytes and cortisone-resistant thymocytes led to a partial restoration of the anti-BSA antibody production after Lip-BSA immunization. Examination of the class of immunoglobulin produced in normal mice, immunized with Lip-BSA, showed an early low IgM response and a sustained higher IgG response that was primarily due to the IgG1 subclass. Trypsin removal of BSA exposed on the liposome surface decreased the resulting serum anti-BSA antibody level by 30% to 50%. Animals could be primed equally with a very low dose (0.2 micrograms) of Lip-BSA or with peritoneal macrophages that had phagocytosed the same dose of Lip-BSA. The adjuvant effect of liposomes containing CIgG on the number and type of specific anti-CIgG antibody-producing cells in the spleen was an early increase in IgM-producing cells followed by a substantially higher increase in IgG-producing cells. These observations suggest that liposome encapsulation of a soluble T-dependent antigen stimulates the helper T cell, not the suppressor T cell population, and that this stimulation involves uptake by macrophages.