Self-adjuvanting peptide vaccines mediate antibody responses.

2003 JAN 8 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Immunologists at the University of Melbourne, Australia, have synthesized "various lipopeptides based on the sequence of luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) ... and [reported] on their abilities to induce Abs [antibodies] against this 'self' hormone when inoculated into mice in the absence of additional adjuvant."

W.G. Zeng and colleagues said "[t]he peptides consisted of a colinear CD4+ T helper cell epitope from the L chain of influenza virus hemagglutinin and LHRH, which has B-cell epitopes but no T-cell epitopes present in its sequence. Lipids were attached either at the N terminus or between the T-cell epitope and LHRH, in the approximate center of the peptide."

The researchers reported that "[t]he lipopeptide constructs displayed different solubilities and immunological properties that depended not only on the lipid content but also on the position of attachment of the lipids. Some of these constructs were highly immunogenic, inducing high titers of Ab, which were capable of efficiently sterilizing female mice when administered in saline by s.c. [subcutaneous] or intranasal routes.

"The most effective vaccines were highly soluble, contained the dipalmitoyl-S-glyceryl cysteine moiety, and had this lipid attached at the center of the molecule," Zeng's group ...