Specifications

Specificity: Th1 response

Working concentration: 10 - 100 μg/mouse

Endotoxin level: <1 EU/mg

Solubility: 1 mg/ml in physiological water

Documents

• TDS R848 VacciGrade : 5 mg (vac-r848)
• MSDS R848 VacciGrade : 5 mg (vac-r848)

Contents

• 5 mg of sterile lyophilized R848 VacciGrade™
• 10 ml sterile endotoxin-free physiological water (NaCl 0.9%)

R848 VacciGrade™ is shipped at room temperature and should be stored at 4°C. Lyophilized product is stable 1 year when properly stored. Upon resuspension, prepare aliquots of R848 VacciGrade™ and store at -20˚C for long term storage. Resuspended product is stable 6 months when properly stored. Avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles.

Description

R848 (resiquimod), a small molecular weight imidazoquinoline compound, is an immune response modifier with potent antiviral and antitumor activities [1]. R848 is being evaluated as an adjuvant in FDA-approved clinical vaccine trials. R848 immune properties result from its ability to induce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines through the activation of Toll-like receptor (TLR)-7 and TLR8 [2].

In vitro and in vivo studies have shown that R848 promotes the secretion of Th1 cytokines, including IFN-γ, IFN-α, IL-12 and TNF-α [3-7]. R848 is capable of skewing antibody responses toward a Th1 IgG2a response and away from a Th2 IgE response, a feature mediated in part by IFN-α and IL-12.

Unlike most adjuvants, R848 can be administered by a different route than the antigen, suggesting that it does not produce a depot effect. Preclinical studies in mice have shown that R848 is able to promote adaptive immune responses to codelivered antigens and provide protection against live infection challenges [4, 6, 8, 9].

1. Stanley MA., 2002. Imiquimod and the imidazoquinolines: mechanism of action and therapeutic potential. Clin Dermatol 27:571–7.
2. Hemmi H. et al., 2002. Small anti-viralcompounds activate immune cells via the TLR7 MyD88-dependent signaling pathway. Nat. Immunol. 3:196-200.
3. Wagner tL. et al., 1999. Modulation of TH1 and TH2 cytokine production with the immune response modifiers, R-848 and imiquimod. Cell. Immunol. 191, 10, 1999.
4. Vasilakos Jp. et al., 2000. Adjuvant activities of immune response modifier R-848: comparison with CpG ODN. Cell. Immunol. 204:64-74.
5.Thomsen L. et al., 2004. Imiquimod and resiquimod in a mouse model: adjuvants for DNA vaccination by particle-mediated immunotherapeutic delivery. Vaccine 22:1799-1809. 6. Baldwin sL. et al., 2009. Intradermal immunization improves protective efficacy of a novel TB vaccine candidate. Vaccine 27:3063-3071.
7. Ma Y. et al., 2010. Assessing the immunopotency of Toll-like receptor agonists in an in vitro tissue engineered immunological model. Immunology 130:374-387.
8. tomai MA. et al., 2000. The immune response modifiers imiquimod and R-848 are potent activators of B lymphocytes. Cell. Immunol. 203:55-65.
9. Zhang WW. & G. Matlashewski. 2008.Immunization with a Toll-like receptor 7 and/or 8 agonist vaccine adjuvant increases protective immunity against Leishmania major in BALB/c mice. Infect. Immun. 76:3777-3783.