A novel Aβ epitope vaccine based on bacterium-like particle against Alzheimer’s disease

In this study, we used bacterium-like particles (BLPs) as carriers and different copy numbers of the Aβ 1-6 peptide as epitopes to design four Aβ active immunization vaccines. The epitopes containing different copy numbers of the Aβ 1-6 peptide were specifically loaded on the surface of BLPs via fusion with a peptidoglycan anchoring domain. These four BLP-based Aβ vaccines successfully induced high levels of Aβ42-specific antibodies in mice. However, none of the vaccines induced a T-cell-mediated immune response. Importantly, the antibodies induced by these four vaccines were effective in blocking Aβ42 oligomer toxicity at the cellular level. Among the four vaccines, 6copy-Aβ 1-6 -PA-BLP was the most effective in inducing Aβ-specific antibodies, indicating that a suitable epitope copy number is critical for high immunogenicity of the BLP-based vaccine. Furthermore, high levels of serum Aβ-specific antibodies could still be detected 3 months after the final administration of 6copy-Aβ 1-6 -PA-BLP. Thus, 6copy-Aβ 1-6 -PA-BLP may be a potential therapeutic treatment for AD.

Source: Molecular Immunology - July 18, 2018 Category: Allergy & Immunology Source Type: research