Activation of Interferon Through Glycated Chitosan Administration

Abstract

N-dihydrogalactochitosan (GC) is a novel immunoadjuvant with unique physiochemical properties that poses significant improvements upon its parent molecule, chitosan. Its potent immune stimulation properties make it promising in the world of vaccinations, with already proven reduction of morbidity in COVID studies. The key to generating immunity against intracellular pathogens is to generate a type I/II interferon (IFN) response. GC stimulates the desired IFN responses while other currently used adjuvants such as MF-59 often fail to do so. For comparison purposes, the immune response specific to GC stimulation needs to be understood. It has been previously demonstrated that application of GC in combination with photothermal therapy reduces mortality in cancer treatment studies. Furthermore, intranasal application of GC in combination with recombinant viral proteins has reduced COVID-19 mortality in mice. The fundamental question remains: Is GC acting as a physical barrier, or is GC stimulating a local type I IFN response which in turn activates antiviral pathways in the respiratory epithelium? Building on previously found GC immune activations, now presented are the results of gene activation and interferon activation in in vivo studies over time. This provides insight into the specific mechanisms by which GC succeeds at inducing anti-tumor and anti-viral immunological responses.