佐剂在现代疫苗防治传染病的过程中发挥了重要作用，对佐剂作用机制的详尽认识，可为佐剂的设计、选择及使用提供重要的理论依据。中药多糖具有良好的免疫调节作用和安全性已成为新型佐剂广泛研究的理想材料。我们前期研究发现：一枝蒿粗多糖显示了良好的佐剂活性，且可以通过DCs表面受体TLR4促进其成熟，但对DCs影响的详细机制及对不同病原菌疫苗引发的Th1/Th2免疫应答的特点尚未阐明。本项目在前期研究工作的基础上，以一枝蒿多糖佐剂为研究材料，拟通过体外DCs体系明确一枝蒿多糖佐剂与DCs相互作用的膜受体和胞内下游信号通路，揭示一枝蒿多糖在促进DCs功能中的调控作用；基于小鼠体内实验，阐明一枝蒿多糖对不同病原菌疫苗的Th1/Th2免疫应答的性质和强度，确定一枝蒿多糖佐剂的有效性和可行性，加深对一枝蒿多糖佐剂详细作用机制的认识，为针对特异性疫苗的中药多糖佐剂研制提供重要的理论支持。

Adjuvants are essential components in vaccine formulations to induce robust immunity against pathogens. A more in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of the adjuvanticity could facilitate the optimization for making adjuvants with preferred characteristics. With good adjuvant effects and safety profiles, Chinese medicinal herb polysaccharides have the potentials to be a new generation vaccine adjuvant. We have found crude polysaccharides from Artemisia rupestris L. could serve as an efficacious immune stimulator for vaccines by promoting dendritic cells (DCs) maturation through TLR4 signaling pathway, but the detailed mechanism of its effect on DCs and the characteristics of Th1/Th2 immune response to different pathogen vaccines are known very little to date. Here, the immune regulation of polysaccharide adjuvant on DCs will to be further explore in vitro system, and the membrane receptor and signal pathway of polysaccharides adjuvant on DCs will be revealed. The mechanism of the Th1/Th2 immune response of polysaccharide adjuvant to different pathogen vaccines will be further studied in vivo system, the verification of mouse immune experiment will prove the potency and feasibility of polysaccharide adjuvant. These results will provide us with a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of polysaccharides adjuvant, and these findings will lay a foundation for the further development of polysaccharide adjuvants inducing a tailored immunization response for different applications.