Designing functionally versatile, highly immunogenic peptide-based multiepitopic vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease virus

Defaus, Sira; Forner, Mar, 1980-; Cañas Arranz, Rodrigo; de León, Patricia; Bustos, María J.; Rodríguez Pulido, Miguel; Blanco, Esther; Sobrino, Francisco; Andreu Martínez, David

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8030406

Designing functionally versatile, highly immunogenic peptide-based multiepitopic vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease virus

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Citation

Defaus S, Forner M, Cañas-Arranz R, de León P, Bustos MJ, Rodríguez-Pulido M, Blanco E, Sobrino F, Andreu D. Designing functionally versatile, highly immunogenic peptide-based multiepitopic vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease virus. Vaccines (Basel). 2020; 8(3):E406. DOI: 10.3390/vaccines8030406

Abstract

A broadly protective and biosafe vaccine against foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) remains an unmet need in the animal health sector. We have previously reported solid protection against serotype O FMDV afforded by dendrimeric peptide structures harboring virus-specific B- and T-cell epitopes, and also shown such type of multivalent presentations to be advantageous over simple B-T-epitope linear juxtaposition. Chemically, our vaccine platforms are modular constructions readily made from specified B- and T-cell epitope precursor peptides that are conjugated in solution. With the aim of developing an improved version of our formulations to be used for on-demand vaccine applications, we evaluate in this study a novel design for epitope presentation to the immune system based on a multiple antigen peptide (MAP) containing six immunologically relevant motifs arranged in dendrimeric fashion (named B2T-TB2). Interestingly, two B2T units fused tail-to-tail into a single homodimer platform elicited higher B- and T-cell specific responses than former candidates, with immunization scores remaining stable even after 4 months. Moreover, this macromolecular assembly shows consistent immune response in swine, the natural FMDV host, at reduced dose. Thus, our versatile, immunogenic prototype can find application in the development of peptide-based vaccine candidates for various therapeutic uses using safer and more efficacious vaccination regimens.