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Jin S, Zhang J, Nahar UJ, Huang W, Alharbi NA, Shalash AO, Koirala P, Yang J, Kiong JJE, Khalil ZG, Capon RJ, Stephenson RJ, Skwarczynski M, Toth I, Hussein WM. Activity Relationship of Poly(ethylenimine)-Based Liposomes as Group A Streptococcus Vaccine Delivery Systems. ACS Infect Dis 2023; 9:1570-1581. [PMID: 37489053 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.3c00159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/26/2023]
Abstract
Untreated group A Streptococcus (GAS) can lead to a range of life-threatening diseases, including rheumatic heart disease. To date, no therapeutic or prophylactic vaccines are commercially available to treat or prevent GAS infection. Development of a peptide-based subunit vaccine offers a promising solution, negating the safety issues of live-attenuated or inactive vaccines. Subunit vaccines administer small peptide fragments (antigens), which are typically poorly immunogenic. Therefore, these peptide antigens require formulation with an immune stimulant and/or vaccine delivery platform to improve their immunogenicity. We investigated polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) and polymer-coated liposomes as self-adjuvanting delivery vehicles for a GAS B cell peptide epitope conjugated to a universal T-helper epitope and a synthetic toll-like receptor 2-targeting moiety lipid core peptide-1 (LCP-1). A structure-activity relationship of cationic PEC vaccines containing different external PEI-coatings (poly(ethylenimine); 10 kDa PEI, 25 kDa PEI, and a synthetic mannose-functionalized 25 kDa PEI) formed vaccines PEC-1, PEC-2, and PEC-3, respectively. All three PEC vaccines induced J8-specific systemic immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies when administered intranasally to female BALB/c mice without the use of additional adjuvants. Interestingly, PEC-3 induced the highest antibody titers among all tested vaccines, with the ability to effectively opsonize two clinically isolated GAS strains. A comparative study of PEC-2 and PEC-3 with liposome-based delivery systems was performed subcutaneously. LCP-1 was incorporated into a liposome formulation (DPPC, DPPG and cholesterol), and the liposomes were externally coated with PEI (25 kDa; Lip-2) or mannosylated PEI (25 kDa; Lip-3). All liposome vaccines induced stronger humoral immune responses compared to their PEC counterparts. Notably, sera of mice immunized with Lip-2 and Lip-3 produced significantly higher opsonic activity against clinically isolated GAS strains compared to the positive control, P25-J8 emulsified with the commercial adjuvant, complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). This study highlights the capability of a PEI-liposome system to act as a self-adjuvanting vehicle for the delivery of GAS peptide antigens and protection against GAS infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengbin Jin
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jiahui Zhang
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Ummey J Nahar
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Wenbin Huang
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Nedaa A Alharbi
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Ahmed O Shalash
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Prashamsa Koirala
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jieru Yang
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Jolynn J E Kiong
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Zeinab G Khalil
- Institute for Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Robert J Capon
- Institute for Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Rachel J Stephenson
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Mariusz Skwarczynski
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
| | - Istvan Toth
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
- Institute for Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, Queensland 4102, Australia
| | - Waleed M Hussein
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
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Islam MT, Ho MF, Nahar UJ, Shalash AO, Koirala P, Hussein WM, Stanisic DI, Good MF, Skwarczynski M, Toth I. Investigation of liposomal self-adjuvanting peptide epitopes derived from conserved blood-stage Plasmodium antigens. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0264961. [PMID: 35275957 PMCID: PMC8916655 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 02/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Malaria is a vector born parasitic disease causing millions of deaths every year. Despite the high mortality rate, an effective vaccine against this mosquito-borne infectious disease is yet to be developed. Up to date, RTS,S/AS01 is the only vaccine available for malaria prevention; however, its efficacy is low. Among a variety of malaria antigens, merozoite surface protein-1(MSP-1) and ring-infected erythrocyte surface antigen (RESA) have been proposed as promising candidates for malaria vaccine development. We developed peptide-based Plasmodium falciparum vaccine candidates that incorporated three previously reported conserved epitopes from MSP-1 and RESA into highly effective liposomal polyleucine delivery system. Indeed, MSP-1 and RESA-derived epitopes conjugated to polyleucine and formulated into liposomes induced higher epitope specific antibody titres. However, immunized mice failed to demonstrate protection in a rodent malaria challenge study with Plasmodium yoelii. In addition, we found that the three reported P. falciparum epitopes did not to share conformational properties and high sequence similarity with P. yoelii MSP-1 and RESA proteins, despite the epitopes were reported to protect mice against P. yoelii challenge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Md. Tanjir Islam
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Mei-Fong Ho
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia
| | - Ummey J. Nahar
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Ahmed O. Shalash
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Prashamsa Koirala
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Waleed M. Hussein
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | | | - Michael F. Good
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia
| | - Mariusz Skwarczynski
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
- * E-mail: (IT); (MS)
| | - Istvan Toth
- School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia
- Institute for Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
- * E-mail: (IT); (MS)
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