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Vaccine building 'kit': combining peptide bricks to elicit a desired immune response without adding an adjuvant.

Aleksandr A GorbunovEvgeniia P SannikovaIrek I GubaidullinGayane A SerobyanAlina Yu GorbunovaAnna V SerkinaKonstantin S PlokhikhRoman A KamyshinskyMikhail F VorovitchNatalia V BulushovaSergei KuchinDmitry G Kozlov
Published in: Nanomedicine (London, England) (2022)
Protein nanoparticles (NPs) can be used as vaccine platforms for target antigen presentation. Aim: To conduct a proof-of-concept study to demonstrate that an effective NP platform can be built based on a short self-assembling peptide (SAP) rather than a large self-assembling protein. Materials & methods: SUMO-based protein fusions (SFs) containing an N-terminal SAP and a C-terminal antigen were designed, expressed in Escherichia coli  and purified. The structure was investigated by electron microscopy. The antibody response was tested in mice after two adjuvant-free immunizations. Results: Renatured SFs form fiber-like NPs with the antigen exposed on the surface and induce a significant antibody response with a remarkably high target-to-platform ratio. Conclusion: The platform is effective and has considerable potential for modification toward various applications, including vaccine development.
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