Natural antibodies play a major role in providing protective host immunity. A significant portion of natural antibodies present in all humans, apes and Old World primates are specific for the carbohydrate antigen Gal11-3Gal21-4GlcNAc-R, or 1Gal. Indeed, 1Gal-specific natural antibodies comprise one to eight percent of circulating immunoglobulin in humans. Based on the universal high-titer presence of these antibodies, we hypothesized that it might be possible to utilize this pre-existing antigen-specific repertoire to augment the immunogenicity of antigens in order to improve the efficacy of vaccines. To test this hypothesis, we used 1Gal-deficient mice (GT0 mice), which like humans produce 1Gal-specific natural antibodies, to analyze whether conjugation of a poorly immunogenic antigen, such as bovine serum albumin (BSA), to 1Gal could affect its immunogenicity in vivo. Immunization of GT0 mice with BSA conjugated to 1Gal (1Gal-BSA) led to a T and B cell response to BSA that was significantly greater than that observed following immunization of control mice without the need for adjuvant. The ability to produce 1Gal-specific antibodies also led to an enhanced cytotoxic T lymphocyte anti-virus response following challenge of mice with murine leukemia virus- transformed cell lines expressing 1Gal. These data suggest that pre-existing 1Gal-specific antibodies encoded for in the natural antibody repertoire can be used to increase B and T cell responses to poorly immunogenic antigens that have been modified to express 1Gal epitopes without the need for adjuvant. The central hypothesis of this proposal is therefore that this pre-existing antibody repertoire can be used to improve vaccine strategies for pathogens.
The specific aims are: to determine the mechanism by which 1Gal-specific natural antibodies increase the immunogenicity of antigens modified to express 1Gal;determine if pre-existing 1Gal-specific natural antibodies can be used to improve vaccines for pathogens, and;determine the effectiveness of immunization with 1Gal-modified antigens in immunocompromised hosts.

Public Health Relevance

The development of novel immunization strategies against emerging pathogens remains a high public health priority throughout the world. In this proposal we will examine whether pre-existing natural antibody specificities can be used to develop potentially novel vaccine strategies.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI083459-04
Application #
8215634
Study Section
Immunity and Host Defense Study Section (IHD)
Program Officer
Leitner, Wolfgang W
Project Start
2010-02-15
Project End
2015-01-31
Budget Start
2012-03-01
Budget End
2013-02-28
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$406,891
Indirect Cost
$102,218
Name
Tufts University
Department
Type
DUNS #
079532263
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02111
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