The Use of Multiple Antigen Peptides in the Analysis and Induction of Protective Immune Responses against Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the application of multiple antigen peptide (MAP) technology to the development of a vaccine for the human malaria plasmodium falciparum . Therefore, the studies on the MAPs vaccines based on the plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein are reviewed and compared with other experimental systems in terms of MAPs synthesis, formulation, antigenicity, immunogenicity, and efficacy. In this chapter, the term “MAP” refers to branched peptides synthesized on a polylysine core. The MAPs are used as immunogen and antigens, with the ultimate purpose of inducing and characterizing the protective immune responses. In addition to their potential as immunogen for prophylaxis of infectious diseases, MAPs provide sensitive immunological reagents for immunocyte-chemical studies and for the measurement of antibody/antigen and receptor/ligand interactions. In experimental models, MAPs have been shown to induce protective antibody and T cell responses to rodent malaria species and the parasitic helminth , schistosomu and munsoni, as well as neutralizing antibody against pathogenic viruses, including HIV-1 and foot and mouth disease virus. MAPs, synthetic macromolecules containing defined B and/or T cell epitopes of one or more antigens, have provided unique immunological reagents for the analysis and induction of cellular and humoral immune responses to a wide range of infectious diseases. In contrast to the carrier-dependent immunogenicity of most linear synthetic peptides, MAPs utilize a peptide core matrix to construct a synthetic macromolecule that is immunogenic in the absence of protein carrier. Unlike peptide-carrier protein conjugates, the size, number, ratio, and relative position of T and B cell epitopes in MAPs can be defined, thus providing the opportunity to examine the influence of these factors on immunogenicity and antigenicity of peptide vaccines.