Our future study will focus on optimizing the formulation of vaccines. Previous reports have indicated that optimal formulations of aluminum-adjuvanted vaccines containing CpG probably require both the antigen and the CpG to be fully bound to the alum, as this would optimize copresentation of both the antigen and CpG (Morefield et al., 2005). In addition, careful control of formulation, storage conditions postformulation

and the time interval between formulation and GSK-3 beta phosphorylation use are equally important factors for the enhancement of immunogenicity (Aebig et al., 2007). In conclusion, this study developed a novel subunit vaccine comprising Ag85b, HspX and C/E and a combination of CpG and aluminum adjuvants. ABT-199 This vaccine induced a strong humoral and cellular immune response in mice but did not control disease progression in Mtb-challenged guinea pigs. After optimization work on the animal model and further formulation, this mixed subunit vaccine may become available both for the control of postexposure tuberculosis and as a prophylactic vaccine. The research was supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 program) (2006AA02Z464, 2006AA02A240). The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. “
“Homing of murine dendritic epidermal T cells (DETCs) from the thymus to the skin is regulated

by specific trafficking receptors during late embryogenesis. Once in the epidermis, Vγ3δ1 TCR DETCs are maintained through self-renewal and participate in wound healing. GPR15 is an orphan G protein-linked chemoattractant receptor involved in the recruitment of regulatory T cells to the colon. Here we show that GPR15 is highly expressed on fetal thymic DETC precursors and on recently recruited DETCs, and mediates the earliest seeding of the epidermis, which occurs at the time of establishment of skin barrier function. DETCs in GPR15−/− mice remain low at birth, but later participation of CCR10 and CCR4 in DETC homing allows DETCs

to reach near normal levels in adult Oxymatrine skin. Our findings establish a role for GPR15 in skin lymphocyte homing and suggest that it may contribute to lymphocyte subset targeting to diverse epithelial sites. Skin and other squamous epithelia are protected by specialized lymphocyte populations that reside within the epithelium and dermis. The cutaneous epithelium in humans and mice contains specialized populations of γ/δ T cells [1]. The mouse skin harbors so-called dendritic epidermal T cells (DETCs), a unique, highly specialized subset characterized by its dendritic shape and its exclusive expression of γ3δ1 T-cell receptor (also known as γ5, depending on the nomenclature used [2]), thought to recognize a self-antigen on stressed or damaged skin cells [3, 4] and to receive costimulation through junctional adhesion molecule-like protein (JAML) [5].