The Precellys^® Minilys Personal Tissue Homogenizer can be used beyond its cell lysing and tissue homogenizing applications to prepare high-quality injectable emulsions with the Precellys^® Emulsion Kit. Injectable emulsions are commonly used in a variety of immunological studies, including the generation of animal models of autoimmune diseases. Many such animal models rely on injection of an emulsion consisting of an antigen and an adjuvant, often complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA), to generate the model. For example, in a murine model of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), which functions as a model of rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis is established in genetically susceptible mice via injection of an emulsion of collagen type II in CFA, followed by a boost of collagen type II in incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA) 21 days later.¹ Other models that are established in a similar fashion are experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU), experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG), and active experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), which is a model of multiple sclerosis (Table 1).^2-4

Table 1. Antigens and adjuvants used in emulsions to generate animal models of autoimmune diseases.

Emulsification is also commonly used to prepare adjuvants for vaccine and immunotherapy development. Adjuvants help improve vaccine potency by enhancing the immune response to an antigen. MF59^®, a squalene-based oil-in-water emulsion, was the first oil-in-water emulsion approved for human use.⁵ It was approved in Europe in 1997 and has been used as an adjuvant in influenza vaccines in the United States since 2016.⁶

Since the approval of MF59^®, a variety of oil-in-water and water-in-oil emulsions have been studied as potential adjuvants in additional vaccines, including cancer vaccines. PELC is a degradable emulsion-based adjuvant consisting of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), squalene, Span^®85 (an emulsifier), and poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PEG-b-PLACL), which is a bioresorbable polymer that stabilizes the emulsion.⁷ When used as an adjuvant in model vaccines, PELC prolongs antigen release, increases injection site recruitment and activation of antigen-presenting cells, and increases production of antigen-specific antibodies. PELC was also shown to enhance the efficacy of an antitumor immunotherapeutic vaccine in a mouse model of cancer.

AS03, an oil-in-water emulsion containing squalene, α-tocopherol, and polysorbate 80 is licensed for use in influenza vaccines in the EU.⁵ It is currently being explored as a potential adjuvant in several COVID-19 vaccines under development, including two undergoing phase I clinical trials.⁸ 

The Precellys^® Emulsion Kit, which is compatible with the Precellys^® Minilys Personal Tissue Homogenizer, enables you to quickly and efficiently prepare homogeneous, reproduceable emulsions (Figure 1).

Figure 1. The Precellys^® Emulsion Kit generates high quality, homogeneous emulsions.

By automating emulsion preparation, this kit reduces variability between users and from one experiment to another, potentially increasing the success rate of experiments. The Precellys^® Emulsion Kit also reduces the risk of accidental exposure and eliminates the physical strain of the standard two-syringe method by using a single tube for emulsion and injection. 

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References

1. Pietrosimone, K.M., Jin, M., Poston, B., et al. Collagen-induced arthritis: A model for murine autoimmune arthritis. Bio. Protoc. 5(20), e1626 (2015).

2. McCarthy, D.P., Richards, M.H., and Miller, S.D. Mouse models of multiple sclerosis: Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and Theiler's virus-induced demyelinating disease. Methods Mol. Biol.900, 381-401 (2012).

3. Bansal, S., Barathi, V. A., Iwata, D., et al. Experimental autoimmune uveitis and other animal models of uveitis: An update. Indian J. Ophthalmol.63(3), 211-218 (2015).

4. Losen, M., Martinez-Martinez, P., Molenaar, P.C., et al. Standardization of the experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) model by immunization of rats with Torpedo californica acetylcholine receptors – recommendations for methods and experimental designs. Exp. Neurol.270, 18-28 (2015).

5. Fox, C.B. and Haensler, J. An update on safety and immunogenicity of vaccines containing emulsion-based adjuvants. Expert Rev. Vaccines12(7), 747-758 (2013).

6. Adjuvants and Vaccines (2020). In: cdc.gov [Internet]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/adjuvants.html

7. Huang, C.-H., Huang, C.-Y., Cheng, C.-P., et al. Degradable emulsion as vaccine adjuvant reshapes antigen-specific immunity and thereby ameliorates vaccine efficacy. Sci. Rep.6, 36732 (2016).

8. Chung, Y.H., Beiss, V., Fiering, S.N., et al. COVID-19 vaccine frontrunners and their nanotechnology design. ACS Nano14(10), 12522-12537 (2020).