Peptide Antigen Modifications Influence the On-Target and Off-Target Antibody Response for an Influenza Subunit Vaccine

Background/Objectives: Peptide amphiphile micelles (PAMs) are an exciting nanotechnology currently being studied for a variety of biomedical applications, especially for drug delivery. Specifically, PAMs can enhance in vivo trafficking, cell-targeting, and cell interactions/internalization. However,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Megan C. Schulte, Adam C. Boll, Agustin T. Barcellona, Elida A. Lopez, Adam G. Schrum, Bret D. Ulery
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Vaccines
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/13/1/51
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832587389494624256
author Megan C. Schulte
Adam C. Boll
Agustin T. Barcellona
Elida A. Lopez
Adam G. Schrum
Bret D. Ulery
author_facet Megan C. Schulte
Adam C. Boll
Agustin T. Barcellona
Elida A. Lopez
Adam G. Schrum
Bret D. Ulery
author_sort Megan C. Schulte
collection DOAJ
description Background/Objectives: Peptide amphiphile micelles (PAMs) are an exciting nanotechnology currently being studied for a variety of biomedical applications, especially for drug delivery. Specifically, PAMs can enhance in vivo trafficking, cell-targeting, and cell interactions/internalization. However, modifying peptides, as is commonly performed to induce micellization, can influence their bioactivity. In our previous work, murine antibody responses to PAMs containing the influenza antigen M2<sub>2–16</sub> were slightly incongruous with prior PAM vaccine studies using other antigens. In this current work, the effect of native protein linkages and non-native micellizing moieties on M2 immunogenicity was studied. Methods: PAMs were synthesized using an elongated M2 antigen (i.e., Palm<sub>2</sub>K-M2<sub>1–24</sub>-(KE)<sub>4</sub>). The PAMs were characterized, then their immunogenicity was evaluated with bone marrow-derived dendritic cells and in mice. Results: Although the modification scheme yielded immunogenic PAMs, these PAMs induced a substantial amount of off-target antibody production compared to unmodified peptidyl micelles (PMs, M2<sub>1–24</sub> peptide). Conclusions: While the impact PAM-induced off-target antibodies had on vaccine efficacy remains to be elucidated, on-target antibodies from both PAM- and PM-vaccinated mice were excitingly able to recognize the M2 antigen within the context of the full M2 protein. This provides preliminary evidence that the PAM-induced on-target antibodies will at minimum be able to recognize the influenza virus upon exposure.
format Article
id doaj-art-d0adc3732ca14cdf80852a7717371ac0
institution Kabale University
issn 2076-393X
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Vaccines
spelling doaj-art-d0adc3732ca14cdf80852a7717371ac02025-01-24T13:51:47ZengMDPI AGVaccines2076-393X2025-01-011315110.3390/vaccines13010051Peptide Antigen Modifications Influence the On-Target and Off-Target Antibody Response for an Influenza Subunit VaccineMegan C. Schulte0Adam C. Boll1Agustin T. Barcellona2Elida A. Lopez3Adam G. Schrum4Bret D. Ulery5Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USADepartment of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USADepartment of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USADepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USADepartment of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USADepartment of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USABackground/Objectives: Peptide amphiphile micelles (PAMs) are an exciting nanotechnology currently being studied for a variety of biomedical applications, especially for drug delivery. Specifically, PAMs can enhance in vivo trafficking, cell-targeting, and cell interactions/internalization. However, modifying peptides, as is commonly performed to induce micellization, can influence their bioactivity. In our previous work, murine antibody responses to PAMs containing the influenza antigen M2<sub>2–16</sub> were slightly incongruous with prior PAM vaccine studies using other antigens. In this current work, the effect of native protein linkages and non-native micellizing moieties on M2 immunogenicity was studied. Methods: PAMs were synthesized using an elongated M2 antigen (i.e., Palm<sub>2</sub>K-M2<sub>1–24</sub>-(KE)<sub>4</sub>). The PAMs were characterized, then their immunogenicity was evaluated with bone marrow-derived dendritic cells and in mice. Results: Although the modification scheme yielded immunogenic PAMs, these PAMs induced a substantial amount of off-target antibody production compared to unmodified peptidyl micelles (PMs, M2<sub>1–24</sub> peptide). Conclusions: While the impact PAM-induced off-target antibodies had on vaccine efficacy remains to be elucidated, on-target antibodies from both PAM- and PM-vaccinated mice were excitingly able to recognize the M2 antigen within the context of the full M2 protein. This provides preliminary evidence that the PAM-induced on-target antibodies will at minimum be able to recognize the influenza virus upon exposure.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/13/1/51vaccinemicelleinfluenzaM2peptide amphiphileoff-target antibodies
spellingShingle Megan C. Schulte
Adam C. Boll
Agustin T. Barcellona
Elida A. Lopez
Adam G. Schrum
Bret D. Ulery
Peptide Antigen Modifications Influence the On-Target and Off-Target Antibody Response for an Influenza Subunit Vaccine
Vaccines
vaccine
micelle
influenza
M2
peptide amphiphile
off-target antibodies
title Peptide Antigen Modifications Influence the On-Target and Off-Target Antibody Response for an Influenza Subunit Vaccine
title_full Peptide Antigen Modifications Influence the On-Target and Off-Target Antibody Response for an Influenza Subunit Vaccine
title_fullStr Peptide Antigen Modifications Influence the On-Target and Off-Target Antibody Response for an Influenza Subunit Vaccine
title_full_unstemmed Peptide Antigen Modifications Influence the On-Target and Off-Target Antibody Response for an Influenza Subunit Vaccine
title_short Peptide Antigen Modifications Influence the On-Target and Off-Target Antibody Response for an Influenza Subunit Vaccine
title_sort peptide antigen modifications influence the on target and off target antibody response for an influenza subunit vaccine
topic vaccine
micelle
influenza
M2
peptide amphiphile
off-target antibodies
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/13/1/51
work_keys_str_mv AT megancschulte peptideantigenmodificationsinfluencetheontargetandofftargetantibodyresponseforaninfluenzasubunitvaccine
AT adamcboll peptideantigenmodificationsinfluencetheontargetandofftargetantibodyresponseforaninfluenzasubunitvaccine
AT agustintbarcellona peptideantigenmodificationsinfluencetheontargetandofftargetantibodyresponseforaninfluenzasubunitvaccine
AT elidaalopez peptideantigenmodificationsinfluencetheontargetandofftargetantibodyresponseforaninfluenzasubunitvaccine
AT adamgschrum peptideantigenmodificationsinfluencetheontargetandofftargetantibodyresponseforaninfluenzasubunitvaccine
AT bretdulery peptideantigenmodificationsinfluencetheontargetandofftargetantibodyresponseforaninfluenzasubunitvaccine