Self-assembled peptide nanorod vaccine confers protection against influenza A virus.

Proteinaceous nanostructures have emerged as a promising strategy to develop safe and efficient subunit vaccines. The ability of synthetic ß-sheet self-assembling peptides to stabilize antigenic determinants and to potentiate the epitope-specific immune responses have highlighted their potential as an immunostimulating platform for antigen delivery. Nonetheless, the intrinsic polymorphism of the resulting cross-ß fibrils, their length in the microscale and their close structural similarity with pathological amyloids could limit their usage in vaccinology. In this study, we harnessed electrostatic capping motifs to control the self-assembly of a chimeric peptide comprising a 10-mer ß-sheet sequence and a highly conserved epitope derived from the influenza A virus (M2e). Self-assembly led to the formation of 100-200 nm long uniform nanorods (NRs) displaying the M2e epitope on their surface. These cross-ß assemblies differed from prototypical amyloid fibrils owing to low polydispersity, short length, non-binding to thioflavin T and Congo Red dyes, and incapacity to seed homologous amyloid assembly. M2e-NRs were efficiently uptaken by antigen presenting cells and the cross-ß quaternary architecture activated the Toll-like receptor 2 and stimulated dendritic cells. Mice subcutaneous immunization revealed a robust M2e-specific IgG response, which was dependent on self-assembly into NRs. Upon intranasal immunization in combination with the polymeric adjuvant montanide gel, M2e-NRs conferred complete protection with absence of clinical signs against a lethal experimental infection with the H1N1 influenza A virus. These findings indicate that by acting as an immunostimulator and delivery system, synthetic peptide-based NRs constitute a versatile self-adjuvanted nanoplatform for the delivery of subunit vaccines.

Harnessing the Activation of Toll-Like Receptor 2/6 by Self-Assembled Cross-ß Fibrils to Design Adjuvanted Nanovaccines.

Protein fibrils characterized with a cross-ß-sheet quaternary structure have gained interest as nanomaterials in biomedicine, including in the design of subunit vaccines. Recent studies have shown that by conjugating an antigenic determinant to a self-assembling ß-peptide, the resulting supramolecular assemblies act as an antigen delivery system that potentiates the epitope-specific immune response. In this study, we used a ten-mer self-assembling sequence (I10) derived from an amyloidogenic peptide to biophysically and immunologically characterize a nanofibril-based vaccine against the influenza virus. The highly conserved epitope from the ectodomain of the matrix protein 2 (M2e) was elongated at the N-terminus of I10 by solid phase peptide synthesis. The chimeric M2e-I10 peptide readily self-assembled into unbranched, long, and twisted fibrils with a diameter between five and eight nm. These cross-ß nanoassemblies were cytocompatible and activated the heterodimeric Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2/6. Upon mice subcutaneous immunization, M2e-fibrils triggered a robust anti-M2e specific immune response, which was dependent on self-assembly and did not require the use of an adjuvant. Overall, this study describes the efficacy of cross-ß fibrils to activate the TLR 2/6 and to stimulate the epitope-specific immune response, supporting usage of these proteinaceous assemblies as a self-adjuvanted delivery system for antigens.

Guiding the Morphology of Amyloid Assemblies by Electrostatic Capping: from Polymorphic Twisted Fibrils to Uniform Nanorods.

Peptides that self-assemble into cross-ß-sheet amyloid structures constitute promising building blocks to construct highly ordered proteinaceous materials and nanoparticles. Nevertheless, the intrinsic polymorphism of amyloids and the difficulty of controlling self-assembly currently limit their usage. In this study, the effect of electrostatic interactions on the supramolecular organization of peptide assemblies is investigated to gain insights into the structural basis of the morphological diversities of amyloids. Different charged capping units are introduced at the N-terminus of a potent ß-sheet-forming sequence derived from the 20-29 segment of islet amyloid polypeptide, known to self-assemble into polymorphic fibrils. By tuning the charge and the electrostatic strength, different mesoscopic morphologies are obtained, including nanorods, rope-like fibrils, and twisted ribbons. Particularly, the addition of positive capping units leads to the formation of uniform rod-like assemblies, with lengths that can be modulated by the charge number. It is proposed that electrostatic repulsions between N-terminal positive charges hinder ß-sheet tape twisting, leading to a unique control over the size of these cytocompatible nanorods by protofilament growth frustration. This study reveals the high susceptibility of amyloid formation to subtle chemical modifications and opens to promising strategies to control the final architecture of proteinaceous assemblies from the peptide sequence.

Nanoparticle-Based Vaccines Against Respiratory Viruses.

The respiratory mucosa is the primary portal of entry for numerous viruses such as the respiratory syncytial virus, the influenza virus and the parainfluenza virus. These pathogens initially infect the upper respiratory tract and then reach the lower respiratory tract, leading to diseases. Vaccination is an affordable way to control the pathogenicity of viruses and constitutes the strategy of choice to fight against infections, including those leading to pulmonary diseases. Conventional vaccines based on live-attenuated pathogens present a risk of reversion to pathogenic virulence while inactivated pathogen vaccines often lead to a weak immune response. Subunit vaccines were developed to overcome these issues. However, these vaccines may suffer from a limited immunogenicity and, in most cases, the protection induced is only partial. A new generation of vaccines based on nanoparticles has shown great potential to address most of the limitations of conventional and subunit vaccines. This is due to recent advances in chemical and biological engineering, which allow the design of nanoparticles with a precise control over the size, shape, functionality and surface properties, leading to enhanced antigen presentation and strong immunogenicity. This short review provides an overview of the advantages associated with the use of nanoparticles as vaccine delivery platforms to immunize against respiratory viruses and highlights relevant examples demonstrating their potential as safe, effective and affordable vaccines.

Kinetic and Conformational Insights into Islet Amyloid Polypeptide Self-Assembly Using a Biarsenical Fluorogenic Probe.

Amyloid fibril formation and tissue deposition are associated with many diseases. Studies have shown that prefibrillar intermediates, such as oligomers, are the most toxic proteospecies of the amyloidogenic cascade. Thus, understanding the mechanisms of formation and the conformational ensemble of prefibrillar species is critical. Due to their transient and heterogeneous nature, detection and characterization of prefibrillar species remain challenging. The fluorogenic probe fluorescein arsenical hairpin (FlAsH), which recognizes a tetracysteine motif, has been recently used to detect the oligomerization of amyloidogenic peptides encompassing a Cys-Cys tag. In this study, we extended the FlAsH detection method to gain novel kinetic and conformational insights into the self-assembly of islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), a 37-residue peptide hormone whose deposition is associated with type II diabetes. By positional scanning of the Cys-Cys motif, the stability of the noncontiguous tetracysteine FlAsH-binding sites formed during self-assembly was evaluated and revealed rapid monomer self-recognition through the convergence of C-terminal domains. On the other hand, the N-terminal domains come close to each other only upon the formation of the cross-ß-sheet amyloid structure. We demonstrated that this method is well-suited to detect thioflavin T-negative fibrils and to screen inhibitors of amyloid formation. This study highlights that with positional scanning of the split-tetracysteine motif (Cys-Cys), the FlAsH detection method offers unique time-dependent conformational insights on the proteospecies assembled throughout the amyloidogenic pathway.

A new way to silicone-based peptide polymers.

We describe a new class of silicone-containing peptide polymers obtained by a straightforward polymerization in water using tailored chlorodimethylsilyl peptide blocks as monomeric units. This general strategy is applicable to any type of peptide sequences, yielding linear or branched polymer chains composed of well-defined peptide sequences.

Heating and microwave assisted SPPS of C-terminal acid peptides on trityl resin: the truth behind the yield.

Despite correct purity of crude peptides prepared on trityl resin by Fmoc/tBu microwave assisted solid phase peptide synthesis, surprisingly, lower yields than those expected were obtained while preparing C-terminal acid peptides. This could be explained by cyclization/cleavage through diketopiperazine formation during the second amino acid deprotection and third amino acid coupling. However, we provide here evidence that this is not the case and that this yield loss was due to high temperature promoted hydrolysis of the 2-chlorotrityl ester, yielding premature cleavage of the C-terminal acid peptides.