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. 2017 Oct 26;12(10):e0186854. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186854

Table 1. Adjuvants and their proposed mode of action.

Adjuvant Characteristics Putative mechanism, receptor, type of immune response
Aluminium salts (Aluminium hydroxide) Gel suspension Inflammasome activation; Th2 biased response [29],[30]
Poly (I:C) dsRNA (Inosine, cytidine homologue) TLR3 Agonist (immunomodulatory molecule) [31]
Poly (IC:LC) dsRNA (Complex of carboxymethylcellulose, polyinosinic-polycytidylic, and poly-L-lysine double-stranded RNA) TLR3 Agonist (immunomodulatory molecule) [24]
Monophosphoryl Lipid A-SM Phospholipid Surface PRR activation; TLR4 agonist, Immunomodulatory molecule [32] [33, 34].
Sigma Adjuvant System (SAS) Oil-in-water emulsion, MPLA and trehalose dicorynomycolate Enhanced antigen uptake; TLR4 agonist
MPLA + Alum Phospholipid plus gel suspension TLR4 agonist, combination
SAS + Carbopol Oil-in-water emulsion, MPLA, trehalose dicorynomycolate. Polyanionic high mol. weight acrylic acid TLR4 agonist and controlled release of antigen[21]
Adjuplex Lecithin & Carbomer (cross-linked polyacrylic acid) homopolymer Th1/Th2 balanced response [19]
AddaVax Squalene based Oil in Water Emulsion Th1/Th2 balanced response[35]
MontanideTM ISA 71 VG Water in oil emulsion Th1/Th2 balanced response
MontanideTM ISA 71 VG + Carbopol Water in oil emulsion. Polyanionic high mol. weight acrylic acid Th1/Th2 balanced response and controlled release of antigen