Enhanced immunogenicity of recombinant peptide fusions containing multiple copies of a heterologous T helper epitope

✍ Scribed by Björn Löwenadler; Ann-Mari Svennerholm; Magnus Gidlund; Erik Holmgren; Katarina Krook; Cecilia Svanholm; Suzanne Ulff; Staffan Josephson

• Book ID: 102161919
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 454 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0014-2980
• DOI: 10.1002/eji.1830200720

✦ Synopsis

Enhanced immunogenicity of recombinant peptide fusions containing multiple copies of a heterologous T helper epitope*

We have examined the immune response against the nonimmunogenic heatstable enterotoxin (STa) of enterotoxigenic Escherichia cofi using recombinant fusion proteins containing the STa-peptide linked to an IgG-binding analogue of protein A and varying numbers of theT helper epitope 323-339 from ovalbumin (ova). By immunization of inbred strains of mice with a series of STa fusion proteins, containing up to four copies of ova tandemly multiplied, we demonstrated that the anti-STa antibody response is controlled by ova-specific T helper cells in a genetically restricted manner. In the responding mouse strains ( 2 out of 3 tested), the level of antibody production was increased by addition of multiple ova epitopes, the anti-STa response being considerably higher to fusion proteins containing four than one or two ova epitopes.