cGAS‐STING pathway agonists are promising vaccine adjuvants

Abstract

Adjuvants are of critical value in vaccine development as they act on enhancing immunogenicity of antigen and inducing long‐lasting immunity. However, there are only a few adjuvants that have been approved for clinical use, which highlights the need for exploring and developing new adjuvants to meet the growing demand for vaccination. Recently, emerging evidence demonstrates that the cGAS‐STING pathway orchestrates innate and adaptive immunity by generating type I interferon responses. Many cGAS‐STING pathway agonists have been developed and tested in preclinical research for the treatment of cancer or infectious diseases with promising results. As adjuvants, cGAS‐STING agonists have demonstrated their potential to activate robust defense immunity in various diseases, including COVID‐19 infection. This review summarized the current developments in the field of cGAS‐STING agonists with a special focus on the latest applications of cGAS‐STING agonists as adjuvants in vaccination. Potential challenges were also discussed in the hope of sparking future research interests to further the development of cGAS‐STING as vaccine adjuvants.

Mn and Zn-Doped Multivariate Metal-Organic Framework as a Metalloimmunological Adjuvant to Promote Protection Against Tuberculosis Infection

“…However, as agonists for cGAS-STING have become available, stimulation of this pathway has become a good target for adjuvants because of the potent innate immune response it triggers, which can activate APCs. 10,11 By engaging APCs that interact with and activate T-cells, cGAS-STING can promote a strong adaptative response. 10 These features have made the STING pathway a therapeutic and prophylactic target for cancer therapy and vaccine adjuvants.…”