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A Modular Vaccine Platform Combining Self‐Assembled Peptide Cages and Immunogenic Peptides
Author(s) -
Morris Caroline,
Glennie Sarah J.,
Lam Hon S.,
Baum Holly E.,
Kandage Dhinushi,
Williams Neil A.,
Morgan David J.,
Woolfson Derek N.,
Davidson Andrew D.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.201807357
Subject(s) - peptide , antigen , in vivo , epitope , immune system , materials science , biology , immunology , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology
Abstract Subunit vaccines use delivery platforms to present minimal antigenic components for immunization. The benefits of such systems include multivalency, self‐adjuvanting properties, and more specific immune responses. Previously, the design, synthesis, and characterization of self‐assembling peptide cages (SAGEs) have been reported. In these, de novo peptides are combined to make hubs that assemble into nanoparticles when mixed in aqueous solution. Here it is shown that SAGEs are nontoxic particles with potential as accessible synthetic peptide scaffolds for the delivery of immunogenic components. To this end, SAGEs functionalized with the model antigenic peptides tetanus toxoid 632‐651 and ovalbumin 323‐339 drive antigen‐specific responses both in vitro and in vivo, eliciting both CD4 + T cell and B cell responses. Additionally, SAGEs functionalized with the antigenic peptide hemagglutinin 518‐526 from the influenza virus are also able to drive a CD8 + T cell response in vivo. This work demonstrates the potential of SAGEs to act as a modular scaffold for antigen delivery, capable of inducing and boosting specific and tailored immune responses.