# Unravelling Immune Enhancement by Immulina

> **NIH NIH U19** · UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI · 2020 · $324,567

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY 
 Influenza is an acute respiratory virus infection that poses endemic, zoonotic and pandemic threats to 
human health with significant morbidity and mortality. Natural killer (NK) cells and virus-specific CD8 T cells are 
key effector cells in launching effective immune responses against influenza virus infection. ImmulinaTM, a high 
molecule-weight fraction of Spirulina extract, contains Braun-type lipoproteins that trigger Toll-like receptor 2 
(TLR2)-mediated NFκB activation in human monocytes and mouse macrophages. Our recent preliminary data 
show that daily treatment of a liquid formulation of Immulina caused notable expansion of circulating NK 
population in mice. Building upon our substantial experience in drug delivery, pharmacodynamics and 
immunology, we propose to develop an optimized liquid formulation of Immulina, evaluate its protective effect 
against influenza virus infection, and elucidate the mechanism of action in vitro and in vivo. The specific aims 
of the proposal are: (1) develop an optimized liquid formulation for Immulina; (2) evaluate the 
pharmacodynamics of Immulina and identify in vivo biomarker(s); (3) investigate the molecular mechanism on 
the immune enhancement by Immulina. The successful completion of this project will result in the development 
of an improved formulation of Immulina and the identification of in vivo biomarkers for Immulina treatment.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9916572
- **Project number:** 1U19AT010838-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI
- **Principal Investigator:** Chalet Tan
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $324,567
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9916572

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9916572, Unravelling Immune Enhancement by Immulina (1U19AT010838-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9916572. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*