Liposomal vaccines: clinical status and immunological presentation for humoral and cellular immunity

Liposomes have been proposed as vehicles for vaccines against parasitic and viral illnesses. Experimental vaccines against malaria, HIV, hepatitis A, and influenza virus have been shown to be safe and highly immunogenic in several human trials. Analysis of the intracellular trafficking patterns of liposomal antigen reveals that after being phagocytosed by macrophages, liposomal antigen readily escapes from endosomes into the cytoplasm of the macrophages. It is proposed that liposomal peptide antigen can enter either the Golgi apparatus or the endoplasmic reticulum and thereby interact with MHC class II or class I molecules. The intracellular cytoplasmic trafficking patterns of liposomal antigens raise the possibility that liposomes may have utility in human vaccines for induction of either humoral immunity or cytotoxic T lymphocytes.