gardiquimod and resiquimod

Norovirus infections are a significant health and economic burden globally, accounting for hundreds of millions of cases of acute gastroenteritis every year. In the absence of an approved norovirus vaccine, there is an urgent need to develop antivirals to treat chronic infections and provide prophylactic therapy to limit viral spread during epidemics and pandemics. Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists have been explored widely for their antiviral potential, and several are progressing through clinical trials for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) and as adjuvants for norovirus viruslike particle (VLP) vaccines. However, norovirus therapies in development are largely direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) with fewer compounds that target the host. Our aim was to assess the antiviral potential of TLR7 agonist immunomodulators on norovirus infection using the murine norovirus (MNV) and human Norwalk replicon models. TLR7 agonists R-848, Gardiquimod, GS-9620, R-837, and loxoribine were screened using a plaque reduction assay, and each displayed inhibition of MNV replication (50% effective concentrations [EC

Topics: Aminoquinolines; Animals; Antiviral Agents; Caliciviridae Infections; Cell Line; Guanosine; Humans; Imidazoles; Imiquimod; Mice; Pteridines; RAW 264.7 Cells; Toll-Like Receptor 7; Virus Replication

Using a yeast-based assay, a previously unsuspected antiprion activity was found for imiquimod (IQ), a potent Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist already used for clinical applications. The antiprion activity of IQ was first detected against yeast prions [PSI (+) ] and [URE3], and then against mammalian prion both ex vivo in a cell-based assay and in vivo in a transgenic mouse model for prion diseases. In order to facilitate structure-activity relationship studies, we conducted a new synthetic pathway which provides a more efficient means of producing new IQ chemical derivatives, the activity of which was tested against both yeast and mammalian prions. The comparable antiprion activity of IQ and its chemical derivatives in the above life forms further emphasizes the conservation of prion controlling mechanisms throughout evolution. Interestingly, this study also demonstrated that the antiprion activity of IQ and IQ-derived compounds is independent from their ability to stimulate TLRs. Furthermore, we found that IQ and its active chemical derivatives inhibit the protein folding activity of the ribosome (PFAR) in vitro.

Topics: Aminoquinolines; Animals; Cell Line; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; Glutathione Peroxidase; Guanosine; Humans; Imidazoles; Imiquimod; Membrane Glycoproteins; Mice; Peptide Termination Factors; Prion Diseases; Prions; Protein Folding; PrPSc Proteins; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; Structure-Activity Relationship; Toll-Like Receptor 7; Toll-Like Receptor 8

While current subunit vaccines successfully induce humoral immune responses, a need exists for vaccine strategies to elicit strong cell-mediated immunity to address diseases such as cancer and chronic viral infection. Polymersomes are stable vesicles composed of self-assembling block copolymers with tunable degradation properties allowing delivery of both hydrophilic (within vesicle interior) or hydrophobic (within vesicle membrane) payload molecules. Here we apply oxidation-sensitive nanoscale polymersomes for both antigen and adjuvant delivery to dendritic cell (DC) endosomes. Calcein-loaded polymersomes were observed to release their payload initially in multiple DC endosomal compartments and subsequently within the cytosol. With either the Toll-like receptor agonists gardiquimod or R848 as payloads within the polymersomes, release resulted in DC activation, as indicated by induction of inflammatory cytokine expression and upregulation of DC maturation surface markers: for example, the ability of gardiquimod to induce IL-6 and IL-12 cytokine expression by DCs was enhanced 10-fold when loaded within polymersomes. With the model antigen ovalbumin as a payload, release resulted in CD8(+) T cell cross-priming by promoting protein antigen cross-presentation through MHC I, as indicated by activation of OT-I CD8(+) T cells. Our results demonstrate that oxidation-sensitive polymersomes can function as a vaccine delivery platform for inducing cell-mediated antigen-specific immune responses.

Topics: Aminoquinolines; Animals; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Cells, Cultured; Dendritic Cells; Drug Delivery Systems; Imidazoles; Interleukin-12; Interleukin-6; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Polymers; T-Lymphocytes

Toll-like receptor (TLR) agonists are currently being examined as adjuvants for vaccines, with several lead candidates now in licensed products or in late-stage clinical development. Guinea pigs are widely used for preclinical testing of drugs and vaccines; however, evaluation of TLR agonists in this model is hindered by the limited availability of immunological tools and reagents. In this study, we validated the use of a branched-chain DNA (bDNA) assay known as the QuantiGene Plex 2.0 Reagent System for measuring innate cytokine and chemokine mRNA levels following TLR stimulation of guinea pig cells. Gene expression for T-helper-1 (Th1) polarizing cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-12) and chemokines (CXCL1, CCL2) was upregulated following ex vivo stimulation of guinea pig splenocytes and whole blood with TLR-4 or TLR-7/8 agonists. These data confirm the utility of the QuantiGene system both as an alternative to RT-PCR for measuring transcript levels and as a high-throughput screening tool for dissecting the immunological response to TLR stimulation in guinea pigs. Overall, the QuantiGene platform is reliable, reproducible, and sensitive. These agonists have the potential to be used as adjuvant components in vaccines against various pathogens.

Topics: Adjuvants, Immunologic; Aminoquinolines; Animals; Branched DNA Signal Amplification Assay; Chemokine CCL2; Chemokine CXCL1; Chemokines; Cytokines; Female; Gene Expression Profiling; Guinea Pigs; Imidazoles; Imiquimod; Interleukin-12; Interleukin-1beta; Lipopolysaccharides; Reproducibility of Results; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Spleen; Toll-Like Receptor 4; Toll-Like Receptor 7; Toll-Like Receptor 8; Toll-Like Receptors; Transcriptome; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha

Imidazoquinolone compounds, such as resiquimod are Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7/8 ligands representing novel immune response modifiers undergoing clinical testing. Resiquimod has been reported to modulate conventional human monocyte-derived DC (moDC) differentiation, but the role of TLR7 and TLR8 is unclear. We directly dissected the TLR7- and TLR8-dependency by employing selective TLR7 ligands and resiquimod-coculture experiments with inhibitory oligonucleotides (iODN) suppressing TLR7, TLR7+8 or TLR7+8+9. Selective TLR7 ligands did not affect conventional moDC differentiation as analyzed by CD14/CD1a expression. iODN experiments confirmed that resiquimod's effects during DC differentiation were antagonized only with TLR8 iODNs. Direct comparison of resiquimod DC with TLR7- and control-DC revealed significantly higher T-cell costimulatory molecule and MHC class II expression. Resiquimod DC promoted significantly stronger allogeneic T-cell proliferation and stronger naïve CD4(+) T-cell proliferation. These results indicate the relevance of TLR8 for human monocyte-derived DC differentiation and maturation and may be relevant for clinical trials employing resiquimod.

Topics: Aminoquinolines; Base Sequence; Cell Differentiation; Cell Proliferation; Dendritic Cells; Guanosine; HEK293 Cells; HLA-D Antigens; Humans; Imidazoles; In Vitro Techniques; Interleukin-3 Receptor alpha Subunit; Ligands; Monocytes; Oligodeoxyribonucleotides, Antisense; T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer; Toll-Like Receptor 7; Toll-Like Receptor 8; Toll-Like Receptor 9; Transfection

We previously reported that synthetic or natural Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7/8 agonists present within dead cells enhanced cell-associated antigen presentation both in vitro and in vivo. Here, we investigated the immunopotency of different chemically synthesized TLR7/8 agonists, Resiquimod, Gardiquimod, CL075, and CL097, on HBsAg immunogenicity. These agonists stimulated inflammatory monocyte-derived cells to become potent antigen-presenting dendritic cells (DCs), which augmented HBsAg specific T cell proliferation after they were conditioned with HBsAg. The TLR8 agonist CL075 and the TLR7/8 dual agonist CL097 showed more potent effects than the TLR7 agonist. Compared with alum adjuvant, when HBsAg mixed with CL075 was injected intramuscularly into mice, more monocyte-derived DCs carried antigens into draining lymph nodes and spleens. Specific Abs, particularly IgG2a, were significantly increased, and more IL-5 and IFN-gamma were produced by splenocytes and intrahepatic immunocytes in mice that received HBsAg mixed with CL075 and CL097. These results suggest that TLR8 agonists are good candidates to enhance recombinant HBsAg immunogenicity to induce specific humoral and cellular immune responses.

Topics: Alum Compounds; Aminoquinolines; Animals; Antibodies, Viral; Antigen-Presenting Cells; Cell Differentiation; Cells, Cultured; Dendritic Cells; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; Humans; Imidazoles; Immunoglobulin G; Interferon-gamma; Interleukin-5; Leukocytes, Mononuclear; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Quinolines; Spleen; Thiazoles; Toll-Like Receptor 7; Toll-Like Receptor 8