T cells control the generation of nanomolar-affinity anti-glycan antibodies.

ABSTRACT: Vaccines targeting glycan structures at the surface of pathogenic microbes must overcome the inherent T cell-independent nature of immune responses against glycans. Carbohydrate conjugate vaccines achieve this by coupling bacterial polysaccharides to a carrier protein that recruits heterologous CD4 T cells to help B cell maturation. Yet they most often produce low- to medium-affinity immune responses of limited duration in immunologically fit individuals and disappointing results in the elderly and immunocompromised patients. Here, we hypothesized that these limitations result from suboptimal T cell help. To produce the next generation of more efficacious conjugate vaccines, we have explored a synthetic design aimed at focusing both B cell and T cell recognition to a single short glycan di

SUBMITTER: Polonskaya Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5373877 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature