This technology is an immune-enhancing composition that uses maackiain, a natural metabolite derived from the root of Sophora flavescens, as an active ingredient, combined with an immunoadjuvant consisting of MPL and nigericin. This formulation can be developed into three forms: pharmaceutical compositions, health functional foods, and feed additives.
Subunit vaccines, which use only parts of pathogens as antigens, are safe but have low efficacy due to the lack of microbial-derived components to stimulate immunity. LPS, a potent immunostimulant, is difficult to use as an adjuvant due to its high toxicity. While MPL reduces toxicity, it has limited ability to sufficiently activate the inflammasome/caspase-1 pathway, resulting in weak IL-1β secretion, leaving individuals with reduced inflammasome responses, such as the elderly, more vulnerable to infections.
This technology enhances the secretion of mature IL-1β by having maackiain increase the activity of the inflammasome/caspase-1 signaling pathway, while simultaneously amplifying the first signal provided by MPL and the inflammasome signal provided by nigericin. As a natural product, maackiain carries a low risk of side effects with long-term use. It can be applied to subunit vaccine adjuvants, immune-boosting health supplements for the elderly and infants, and livestock feed additives, effectively enhancing vaccine efficacy by compensating for the IL-1β response missed by MPL alone, without the burden of toxicity.
This invention was developed with support from the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning for research on innate immune modulators for infection control, specifically focusing on Pseudomonas aeruginosa immune-modulation mimicry for inflammation inhibition and bacterial control.
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