We report the generation of 319,311 single-pass sequencing reactions (known as expressed sequence tags, or ESTs) obtained from the 5' and 3' ends of 194,031 human cDNA clones. Our goal has been to obtain tag sequences from many different genes and to deposit these in the publicly accessible Data Base for Expressed Sequence Tags. Highly efficient automatic screening of the data allows deposition of the annotated sequences without delay. Sequences have been generated from 26 oligo(dT) primed directionally cloned libraries, of which 18 were normalized. The libraries were constructed using mRNA isolated from 17 different tissues representing three developmental states. Comparisons of a subset of our data with nonredundant human mRNA and protein data bases show that the ESTs represent many known sequences and contain many that are novel. Analysis of protein families using Hidden Markov Models confirms this observation and supports the contention that although normalization reduces significantly the relative abundance of redundant cDNA clones, it does not result in the complete removal of members of gene families.

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MPL (Corixa) adjuvant is a chemically modified derivative of lipopolysaccharide that displays greatly reduced toxicity while maintaining most of the immunostimulatory activity of lipopolysaccharide. MPL adjuvant has been used extensively in clinical trials as a component in prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines targeting infectious disease, cancer and allergies. With over 33,000 doses administered to date, MPL adjuvant has emerged as a safe and effective vaccine adjuvant. Recently, scientists at Corixa Corporation have developed a library of synthetic lipid A mimetics (aminoalkyl glucosaminide 4-phosphates) with demonstrated immunostimulatory properties. Similar to MPL adjuvant, these synthetic compounds signal through Toll-like receptor 4 to stimulate the innate immune system. One of these compounds, Ribi.529 (RC-529), has emerged as a leading adjuvant with a similar efficacy and safety profile to MPL adjuvant in both preclinical and clinical studies.

A compound family of synthetic lipid A mimetics (termed the aminoalkyl glucosaminide phosphates [AGPs]) was evaluated in murine infectious disease models of protection against challenge with Listeria monocytogenes and influenza virus. For the Listeria model, intravenous administration of AGPs was followed by intravenous bacterial challenge 24 h later. Spleens were harvested 2 days postchallenge for the enumeration of CFU. For the influenza virus model, mice were challenged with virus via the intranasal/intrapulmonary route 48 h after intranasal/intrapulmonary administration of AGPs. The severity of disease was assessed daily for 3 weeks following challenge. Several types of AGPs provided strong protection against influenza virus or Listeria challenge in wild-type mice, but they were inactive in the C3H/HeJ mouse, demonstrating the dependence of the AGPs on toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling for the protective effect. Structure-activity relationship studies showed that the activation of innate immune effectors by AGPs depends primarily on the lengths of the secondary acyl chains within the three acyl-oxy-acyl residues and also on the nature of the functional group attached to the aglycon component. We conclude that the administration of synthetic TLR4 agonists provides rapid pharmacologic induction of innate resistance to infectious challenge by two different pathogen classes, that this effect is mediated via TLR4, and that structural differences between AGPs can have dramatic effects on agonist activity in vivo.The toll-like receptors (TLRs) comprise an evolutionarily conserved receptor family that is capable of detecting and responding to microbial challenge (1). The TLRs recognize a variety of pathogen-specific components, including lipopolysaccharide (LPS), CpG DNA, and microbial membrane and cell wall components (20). Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is critical for the recognition of LPS (30, 31), and considerable progress has recently been made in understanding the interaction of TLR4 with critical accessory molecules implicated in LPS recognition (8,9,17,21,22, 32,40,41). In this regard, it appears that LPS binding protein (LBP) promotes the binding of LPS to CD14, which in turn facilitates the association of the lipid A component of LPS with MD-2 to form a soluble complex that serves as an activating ligand for TLR4 on the cell surface. Binding of the MD-2/LPS complex to TLR4 results in the aggregation of TLR4 into lipid rafts and the activation of several distinct intracellular signaling pathways that results in increased transcription of many genes encoding cytokines, defensins, chemokines, and alpha/beta interferons (28, 38). These effector molecules determine a wide range of biological activities, including further production of cytokines, enhancement of microbicidal activity of phagocytic cells, and migration/maturation of dendritic cells (5,23,36).Before the discovery that LPS interacts with TLR4, evidence demonstrating the importance of innate immune activation in controlling infection with gram-neg...