A receptor mediated delivery of an HIV-1 derived peptide vaccine.

One way of obtaining an enhanced production of specific antibodies against given antigens is to maximize the level of antigen presentation through artificially augmented antigen uptake by antigen presenting cells (APCs). In this respect, it has been shown that the receptor mediated endocytosis of antigens can be a very effective way to achieve this purpose. Such a process should also enhance the weak immunogenicity of synthetic peptides produced as artificial vaccines with amino acid sequences resembling those of epitopic sites of pathogens. In this report we used alpha 2-macroglobulin (a2M) which has specific receptors on macrophages (MFs) as a delivery protein and were able to induce high concentrations of antibodies against an HIV-1 derived synthetic peptide in mice. a2M enhanced immunogenicity of the peptide better than Freund's adjuvant did. We should be able to develop effective peptide vaccines by further improving this system.