Tandem chain walking polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization for efficient synthesis of dendritic nanoparticles for bioconjugation.

A tandem polymerization methodology, chain walking polymerization (CWP) followed by atom transfer radical polymerization, was developed for efficient synthesis of nanoparticles for bioconjugation. Using the chain walking palladium-alpha-diimine catalyst (catalyst 1), dendritic polymers bearing multiple initiation sites were synthesized and used as macroinitiators for subsequent Cu(I)-mediated ATRP. Control of molecular weight and size of the water-soluble core-shell polymeric nanoparticles was achieved by tuning reaction conditions. Addition of an N-acryloyloxysuccinamide (NAS) monomer at the end of the ATRP afforded NHS-activated polymer nanoparticles. Conjugation with both small dye molecules and protein (ovalbumin) yielded nanoparticle conjugates with relatively high dye or protein per particle ratio. With the efficient synthesis and good biocompatibility, these nanoparticles may find many potential applications in bioconjugation.

Vaccinia virus H3L envelope protein is a major target of neutralizing antibodies in humans and elicits protection against lethal challenge in mice.

The smallpox vaccine is the prototypic vaccine, yet the viral targets critical for vaccine-mediated protection remain unclear in humans. We have produced protein microarrays of a near-complete vaccinia proteome and used them to determine the major antigen specificities of the human humoral immune response to the smallpox vaccine (Dryvax). H3L, an intracellular mature virion envelope protein, was consistently recognized by high-titer antibodies in the majority of human donors, particularly after secondary immunization. We then focused on examining H3L as a valuable human antibody target. Purified human anti-H3L antibodies exhibited substantial vaccinia virus-neutralizing activity in vitro (50% plaque reduction neutralization test [PRNT50] = 44 microg/ml). Mice also make an immunodominant antibody response to H3L after vaccination with vaccinia virus, as determined by vaccinia virus protein microarray. Mice were immunized with recombinant H3L protein to examine H3L-specific antibody responses in greater detail. H3L-immunized mice developed high-titer vaccinia virus-neutralizing antibodies (mean PRNT50 = 1:3,760). Importantly, H3L-immunized mice were subsequently protected against lethal intranasal challenges with 1 or 5 50% lethal doses (LD50) of pathogenic vaccinia virus strain WR, demonstrating the in vivo value of an anti-H3L response. To formally demonstrate that neutralizing anti-H3L antibodies are protective in vivo, we performed anti-H3L serum passive-transfer experiments. Mice receiving H3L-neutralizing antiserum were protected from a lethal challenge with 3 LD50 of vaccinia virus strain WR (5/10 versus 0/10; P < 0.02). Together, these data show that H3L is a major target of the human anti-poxvirus antibody response and is likely to be a key contributor to protection against poxvirus infection and disease.