Alteration of immunogenicity and antibody recognition of B-cell epitopes by synthetic branched chain polypeptide carriers with poly[L-lysine] backbone.

In order to elucidate structural and biological properties required for an optimal immunological carrier function and to provide a rational basis for its selection, two new groups of synthetic branched polypeptides with a general formula poly[Lys-(X(i)-DL-Ala(m))][XAK] or poly[Lys-(DL-Ala(m)-X(i))][AXK], where m approximately 3 and i < 1 were introduced by our laboratory. Here we review our recent results on the application of these polypeptides as biodegradable carriers for constructing synthetic immunogens/antigens with a well-known phenyl oxazolone hapten, peptide epitopes of epithelial mucin [MUCI] or herpes simplex virus [HSV 1] glycoprotein D. Observations collected during the last five years with the conjugates presented serve to illustrate the usefulness of branched polypeptides as carriers for the rational design of synthetic immunogens for the development of vaccines or clinically relevant immunodiagnostics. Furthermore, this polypeptide model system enables the analysis and potentially reliable interpretation of the correlation between chemical structure and immunogenic/antigenic features.