Given the success of the Research Topic ‘The regulatory immune system as a target to improve adjuvants and novel vaccines’ Volume I and the rapidly evolving subject area, we are pleased to announce the launch of Volume II.

Vaccination is one of the most successful measures of public health to control infectious diseases. To date, the immunization schedules used worldwide include vaccines against many pathogens. However, there is still a long list of infectious agents for which the vaccine used can be improved or for which a vaccine is not yet available, such as HIV, Leishmania spp., Plasmodium spp, Toxoplasma gondii, Trypanosoma cruzi, Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, and others. Many of these pathogens share at least one feature, they have evolved numerous strategies to evade and subvert the host's immune system. Cancer is also a pathology where several immunoregulatory populations may be subverted. For both cases, infections and cancer, the development of new strategies to prevent or treat them may constitute a valuable tool to improve prophylactic or therapeutic approaches.

Currently it is widely accepted that the regulatory immune system plays an important role in almost all the scenarios where the immune system is involved, including infectious diseases, autoimmunity, cancer, aging, pregnancy, obesity, and trauma. Vaccination is not an exception. Vaccines can affect components of the regulatory immune system, and a substantial number of studies have shown that the regulatory arm of the immune system may play a role influencing the immunostimulatory properties of adjuvants and the protective capacity of vaccine candidates. CD4+ Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) and Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are the most studied cells, from the regulatory immune system, which have been shown to play a role during the assessment of novel adjuvants and vaccines against complex pathogens and cancer.

Although targeting the humoral and cellular effector response has been sufficient in many cases to develop successful adjuvants and vaccines, a broader point of view that considers not only the effector response but also the regulatory immune system may be necessary to improve or develop the vaccines that are still lacking.

On the other hand, there are also pathologies such as autoimmune diseases and allergies in which cases the purpose of vaccination is to develop a regulatory response against antigens that are involved in the pathology. This opposite scenario show that vaccines and the regulatory immune system are a valuable and flexible tool to be considered in completely different settings.

The purpose of this research topic is to collect original research or review articles highlighting the role of the regulatory immune system during adjuvant or vaccine development in different scenarios which include infections, cancer and other pathologies.

Are you interested in contributing a manuscript to this Research Topic?

The regulatory immune system as a target to improve adjuvants and novel vaccines – Volume II