Enhanced immunogenicity of recombinant peptide fusions containing multiple copies of a heterologous T helper epitope.
We have examined the immune response against the nonimmunogenic heat-stable enterotoxin (STa) of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli using recombinant fusion proteins containing the STa-peptide linked to an IgG-binding analogue of protein A and varying numbers of the T helper epitope 323-339 from ovalbumin (ova). By immunization of inbred strains of mice with a series of STa fusion proteins, containing up to four copies of ova tandemly multiplied, we demonstrated that the anti-STa antibody response is controlled by ova-specific T helper cells in a genetically restricted manner. In the responding mouse strains (2 out of 3 tested), the level of antibody production was increased by addition of multiple ova epitopes, the anti-STa response being considerably higher to fusion proteins containing four than one or two ova epitopes.
Löwenadler
B
B
KabiGen AB, Stockholm, Sweden.
Svennerholm
A M
AM
Gidlund
M
M
Holmgren
E
E
Krook
K
K
Svanholm
C
C
Ulff
S
S
Josephson
S
S
D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000276:immunology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000276:immunology; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D005260:Female; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid / Q000276:immunology; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology*
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004768:Enterotoxins; D000939:Epitopes; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D010455:Peptides; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C034151:heat stable toxin (E coli)