title: Mimicry of viral epitopes with retro-inverso peptides of increased stability.
abstract: Two major limitations to the use of peptides as synthetic vaccines are their poor immunogenicity and low antigenic cross-reactivity with the epitopes of virus particles. Recently it has been shown that retro-inverso peptides corresponding to an immunodominant epitope of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) are able to mimic the structure and antigenic activity of natural L-peptides [1]. A series of L- and retro-inverso peptides of the loop 141-159 of the VP1 protein of FMDV has been synthesized. Antibodies to these peptides were produced by injecting rabbits with peptides covalently coupled to small unilamellar liposomes containing monophosphoryl lipid A as adjuvant. The retro-inverso peptides led to higher serum antibody titres which appeared earlier after the start of immunization and lasted longer than those found with L-peptides. Antibodies to retro-inverso peptides cross-reacted strongly with L-peptides and with virus particles, while guinea pig antisera to VP1 protein and virions cross-reacted strongly with the retro-inverso peptides. In view of their increased stability compared to natural L-peptides, retro-inverso peptidomimetics have considerable potential as synthetic viral vaccines.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, CNRS, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Benkirane
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guichard
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Briand
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Van Regenmortel
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D005537:Aphthovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D002213:Capsid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D002460:Cell Line; D006224:Cricetinae; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004355:Drug Stability; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D007106:Immune Sera; D007114:Immunization; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D008081:Liposomes; D008647:Mesocricetus; D018716:Molecular Mimicry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D014677:Pharmaceutical Vehicles; D011817:Rabbits; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D007106:Immune Sera; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D008081:Liposomes; D010455:Peptides; D014677:Pharmaceutical Vehicles; C442501:VP1 protein, Foot-and-mouth disease virus; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D014765:Viral Vaccines