title: Modulation of the immunosuppressive activity of CKS-17, a synthetic retroviral envelope peptide, by muramyl dipeptide.
abstract: CKS-17, a heptadecapeptide corresponding to a region highly conserved in retroviral transmembrane proteins is known to be immunosuppressive both in vitro and in vivo when conjugated to a carrier protein. Here we examined the effect of the synthetic adjuvant muramyl dipeptide (MDP) on the immunosuppressive properties of CKS-17-BSA in vitro. MDP was found to abrogate CKS-17-BSA-induced inhibition of both IgM plaque-forming cell responses and antitetanus toxin IgG secretion by BALB/c mouse spleen cells immunized in vivo and in vitro by sheep red blood cells and tetanus toxoid, respectively. In contrast, the CKS-17-BSA suppression of concanavalin A-induced splenocyte proliferation was not abrogated by MDP. The data suggest that muramyl peptides could be useful as immunoadjuvants for vaccines against retrovirus-associated immunosuppressive diseases.
authors.affiliation: H. Lee Moffitt Cancer and Research Institute, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Gauduin
authors.forename: F R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Audibert
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Chedid
mesh_terms: D000119:Acetylmuramyl-Alanyl-Isoglutamine / Q000276:immunology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015941:Complement Hemolytic Activity Assay; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology*; D015682:Retroviridae Proteins, Oncogenic / Q000276:immunology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D010455:Peptides; D015682:Retroviridae Proteins, Oncogenic; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D000119:Acetylmuramyl-Alanyl-Isoglutamine; C053692:CKS 17