Immunogenicity of synthetic long peptides and the role of formulation and structure for efficacy and toxicity (Completed project)

Research scientist: Martin Lord, PhD
Principal investigator: Assistant Professor Sara Mangsbo, Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences

Scientific and industrial context. To combat bacterial and viral infections, and as of recent, certain forms of cancer, vaccination has become an instrumental tool for eliciting disease-specific adaptive immune responses. One approach is to implement synthetic long peptides (SLPs), which exclusively encompass the immunogenic epitopes derived from one of these proteins, but often also including T and B cell epitopes to evoke a stronger immune stimulation. Thus, making peptide vaccines both more selective and faster to produce than conventional vaccines for pharmaceutical companies and research institutes.

Aim. This project aims to characterize a set of SLPs derived from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and other peptides by input from industry parties, with respect to to secondary structure, electrostatic charge, and hydrophobicity and how formulation impacts these parameters and their immunogenicity. Longer synthetic peptides can harbor multiple HLA-specific T cell epitopes and formulation and structure could impact efficacy and toxicity.

Outcome. This study will lead to an increased understanding of optimal vaccine formulations for SLPs that best preserve the functional properties but also enhances lymph node drainage by non-cellular transportation within the extracellular matrix. In addition to a potential vaccine, these peptides are also used in assays for predicting T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 (outside SweDeliver) in a KAW/SciLifeLab funded project.