title: A peptide carrier with a built-in vaccine adjuvant: construction of immunogenic conjugates.
abstract: A multifunctional carrier combining B/T cell epitopes (i), a built-in vaccine adjuvant (ii), and a universal T cell epitope (iii) for the construction of potent and specific immunogenic conjugates is presented. The IL-1beta(163-171) fragment known to reproduce the immunostimulatory and adjuvant effects of the whole IL-1beta without possessing any of the pro-inflammatory properties of IL-1beta was covalently anchored to the N-terminus of the Sequential Oligopeptide Carrier, SOC(n), formed by the repeating tripeptide unit Lys-Aib-Gly. A promiscuous T cell epitope derived from the tetanus toxin, TT(593-599), was also positioned in the carboxy terminus of SOC(n) as a universal immunogen to provide broad immunogenicity. Selected B/T cell epitopes from the Sm and La/SSB autoantigens, against which is directed the humoral autoimmunity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjögren's Syndrome, respectively, were coupled to the Lys-N(epsilon)H2 groups of the carrier, and the formulated constructs were administered in animals following the conventional immunization protocol of complete/incomplete Freund's adjuvant. The induced immune responses were compared with that produced when the Sm- and La/SSB-reconstituted immunogenic conjugates were injected alone. High titers of specific antibodies recognizing the priming construct, as well as the cognate autoantigen, were obtained when administered alone without the assistance of Freund's adjuvant. It is concluded that our approach provides the conceptual and experimental framework for the development of multifunctional immunogenic conjugates eliciting enhanced, specific, and prolonged humoral response for usage as human vaccine candidates.
authors: Department of Chemistry, Section of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
authors: Dimitrios
authors: D
authors: Krikorian
authors: Eugenia
authors: E
authors: Panou-Pomonis
authors: Chryssa
authors: C
authors: Voitharou
authors: Constantinos
authors: C
authors: Sakarellos
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Sakarellos-Daitsiotis
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*; D011817:Rabbits; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D010455:Peptides; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic