Assessment of Crosslinkers between Peptide Antigen and Carrier Protein for Fusion Peptide-Directed Vaccines against HIV-1.

ABSTRACT: Conjugate-vaccine immunogens require three components: a carrier protein, an antigen, and a crosslinker, capable of coupling antigen to carrier protein, while preserving both T-cell responses from carrier protein and B-cell responses from antigen. We previously showed that the N-terminal eight residues of the HIV-1 fusion peptide (FP8) as an antigen could prime for broad cross-clade neutralizing responses, that recombinant heavy chain of tetanus toxin (rTTHC) as a carrier protein provided optimal responses, and that choice of crosslinker could impact both antigenicity and immunogenicity. Here, we delve more deeply into the impact of varying the linker between FP8 and rTTHC. In specific, we assessed the physical properties, the antigenicity, and the immunogenicity of conjugates for crosslin

SUBMITTER: Ou L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9698951 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature