title: De novo design of peptide immunogens that mimic the coiled coil region of human T-cell leukemia virus type-1 glycoprotein 21 transmembrane subunit for induction of native protein reactive neutralizing antibodies.
abstract: Peptide vaccines able to induce high affinity and protective neutralizing antibodies must rely in part on the design of antigenic epitopes that mimic the three-dimensional structure of the corresponding region in the native protein. We describe the design, structural characterization, immunogenicity, and neutralizing potential of antibodies elicited by conformational peptides derived from the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) gp21 envelope glycoprotein spanning residues 347-374. We used a novel template design and a unique synthetic approach to construct two peptides (WCCR2T and CCR2T) that would each assemble into a triple helical coiled coil conformation mimicking the gp21 crystal structure. The peptide B-cell epitopes were grafted onto the epsilon side chains of three lysyl residues on a template backbone construct consisting of the sequence acetyl-XGKGKGKGCONH2 (where X represents the tetanus toxoid promiscuous T cell epitope (TT) sequence 580-599). Leucine substitutions were introduced at the a and d positions of the CCR2T sequence to maximize helical character and stability as shown by circular dichroism and guanidinium hydrochloride studies. Serum from an HTLV-1-infected patient was able to recognize the selected epitopes by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Mice immunized with the wild-type sequence (WCCR2T) and the mutant sequence (CCR2T) elicited high antibody titers that were capable of recognizing the native protein as shown by flow cytometry and whole virus ELISA. Sera and purified antibodies from immunized mice were able to reduce the formation of syncytia induced by the envelope glycoprotein of HTLV-1, suggesting that antibodies directed against the coiled coil region of gp21 are capable of disrupting cell-cell fusion. Our results indicate that these peptides represent potential candidates for use in a peptide vaccine against HTLV-1.
authors.affiliation: Peptide and Protein Engineering Laboratory, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Vaccine Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Roshni
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sundaram
authors.forename: Marcus P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: Sharad V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Rawale
authors.forename: Yiping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Mirdad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kazanji
authors.forename: Pravin T P
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Kaumaya
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D019556:COS Cells; D002460:Cell Line; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004306:Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D000939:Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D019791:Guanidine / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D006367:HeLa Cells; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007930:Leucine / Q000737:chemistry; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D015682:Retroviridae Proteins, Oncogenic / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D013696:Temperature; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit / Q000737:chemistry; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000378:metabolism; D054299:env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D015686:Gene Products, env; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D010455:Peptides; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D015682:Retroviridae Proteins, Oncogenic; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit; D054299:env Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; C055265:gp21 protein, Human T-lymphotropic virus 1; D001616:beta-Galactosidase; D007930:Leucine; D019791:Guanidine