# In-Clinic Latanoprost As a Novel Vaccine Adjuvant

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2022 · $198,230

## Abstract

In-Clinic Latanoprost As a Novel Vaccine Adjuvant
Abstract
Discovering in-clinic compounds with potent adjuvant properties for novel, effective and translational vaccines
is a high-priority research area. Through screening the NIH Clinical Collection, we have identified the in-clinic
drug Latanoprost triggering expression of proinflammatory mediators in skin, increasing skin-infiltration of
dendritic cell (DC) subsets, and enhancing induction of antigen-specific IFNγ+CD8 T cells and protective
immunity to the microneedle array cutaneous vaccination. In intradermal and intramuscular vaccinations,
Latanoprost promotes antigen-specific antibodies (Ab), including the effective anti-pathogen IgG subclass. We
hypothesize that Latanoprost functions as a novel T cell- and Ab-promoting adjuvant to enhance vaccine
efficacy with two aims: 1) determine Latanoprost’s vaccine adjuvant effects via DC subsets, 2) evaluate
Latanoprost’s adjuvant effects to skin and intramuscular vaccinations. If successful, our discovery of
Latanoprost as a new, safe, and effective T cell- and Ab-promoting adjuvant to skin and intramuscular
vaccinations would have a clinical significance on repurposing this in-clinic drug in immunizations.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10413243
- **Project number:** 5R21AI156362-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** ZHAOYANG YOU
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $198,230
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-05-27 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10413243

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10413243, In-Clinic Latanoprost As a Novel Vaccine Adjuvant (5R21AI156362-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10413243. Licensed CC0.

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