title: Synthesis of branched oxime-linked peptide mimetics of the MUC1 containing a universal T-helper epitope.
abstract: Our goal was to develop mimics of MUC1, highly immunogenic to induce an efficient immune response against the tumor-associated form of MUC1, and sufficiently different from the natural antigen to bypass the tolerance barrier in humans. With the aim of obtaining a well-defined peptide construct as a means of evoking the precise immune responses required in immunotherapy, we synthesized artificial mimics of the MUC1 protein composed of two MUC1 repeat units of inverse orientation and a universal T-helper epitope. To synthesize these heteromeric peptide constructs, we followed a convergent approach using chemoselective ligation based on oxime chemistry. A stem peptide was first synthesized bearing two orthogonally masked aldehydes. After successive deprotection, two oxime bonds can be specifically generated. The proposed strategy proved to be concise and robust, and allowed the synthesis of the tri-branched protein in a very satisfactory yield. The different constructs were tested for their ability to generate antibodies able to recognize the MUC1 protein.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire, CNRS UPR 4301, rue Charles Sadron, 45071 Orléans Cedex 02, France.
authors.forename: Gaëlle-Anne
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Cremer
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bureaud
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lelièvre
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Piller
authors.forename: Friedrich
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Piller
authors.forename: Agnès
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Delmas
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000939:Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018396:Mucin-1 / Q000737:chemistry*; D010091:Oximes / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000276:immunology; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D018396:Mucin-1; D010091:Oximes; D010455:Peptides