Virus-like Particle (VLP) Mediated Antigen Delivery as a Sensitization Tool of Experimental Allergy Mouse Models

Abstract

Antigen delivery systems play critical roles in determining the quality and quantity of Ab responses in vivo. Induction of protective antibodies by B cells is essential in the development of vaccines against infectious pathogens, whereas production of IgE antibodies is prerequisite for investigation of allergic responses, or type 1 hypersensitivity reactions. Viruslike particles (VLPs) are efficient platforms for expression of proteins of interest in highly repetitive manners, which grants strong Ab responses to target antigens. Here, we report that delivery of hen egg lysozyme (HEL), a model allergen, through VLP could provoke strong HEL specific IgE Ab responses in mice. Moreover, acute allergic responses were robustly induced in the mice sensitized with VLPs that express HEL, when challenged with recombinant HEL protein. Our data show that antigen delivery in the context of VLPs could function as a platform for sensitization of mice and for subsequent examination of allergic reactions to molecules of interest.

Enhancing immune protection against MERS-CoV: the synergistic effect of proteolytic cleavage sites and the fusion peptide and RBD domain targeting VLP immunization

“…The coding sequences of the headless HA (D18-C59 and C291-Q528) of A/PR/8/1934 (Accession P03452) linked with 4XG, and the receptor binding domain (RBD, A368-P586) and proteolytic cleavage sites and the fusion peptide (E589-F972) regions of the MERS-CoV S protein (Accession YP_009047204) were synthesized and cloned into the CDS position for hen egg lysozyme (HEL) of HEL-GTMCD plasmid (19,20), an HIV-derived plasmid used to express HEL linked with the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domain of VSV-g protein (Supplementary Figure 1A). The HEL-GTMCD and OTII-Hgsyn plasmids were kindly provided by Dr. Vladimir Temchura.…”

“…To quantify the amount of VLPs, recombinant HIV1 p24 protein (Abcam) was used as standard (20). VLPs serially diluted in Na 2 CO 3 coating buffer were coated onto a 96-well plate (Nunc).…”

Recent Advances in Allergen-Specific Immunotherapy in Humans: A Systematic Review

“…However, the concept of modified natural allergen extracts was challenged by an in vitro experiment in which allergoids exhibited reduced allergenicity in basophil activation tests and reduced immunogenicity in T-cell stimulation assays although most allergoids have appeared to perform well in clinical studies and clinical practice ( 53 ). Recently, allergen delivery by vectors such as virus-like particles has also been evaluated for the modulation of allergic diseases ( 61 62 63 ).…”