WO1996039182A1 - Produit d'assemblage immunogene a double porteur - Google Patents

Produit d'assemblage immunogene a double porteur Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1996039182A1
WO1996039182A1 PCT/US1996/009281 US9609281W WO9639182A1 WO 1996039182 A1 WO1996039182 A1 WO 1996039182A1 US 9609281 W US9609281 W US 9609281W WO 9639182 A1 WO9639182 A1 WO 9639182A1
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Prior art keywords
carrier
vaccine
molecular weight
bsa
primary
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PCT/US1996/009281
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English (en)
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James J. Mond
Andrew Lees
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Henry M. Jackson Foundation For The Advancement Of Military Medicine
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Application filed by Henry M. Jackson Foundation For The Advancement Of Military Medicine filed Critical Henry M. Jackson Foundation For The Advancement Of Military Medicine
Priority to EP96918249A priority Critical patent/EP0776216A1/fr
Priority to AU60951/96A priority patent/AU6095196A/en
Priority to JP9501635A priority patent/JPH10504842A/ja
Publication of WO1996039182A1 publication Critical patent/WO1996039182A1/fr

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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K17/00—Carrier-bound or immobilised peptides; Preparation thereof
    • C07K17/02—Peptides being immobilised on, or in, an organic carrier
    • C07K17/08—Peptides being immobilised on, or in, an organic carrier the carrier being a synthetic polymer
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K17/00—Carrier-bound or immobilised peptides; Preparation thereof
    • C07K17/02—Peptides being immobilised on, or in, an organic carrier
    • C07K17/10—Peptides being immobilised on, or in, an organic carrier the carrier being a carbohydrate
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K17/00—Carrier-bound or immobilised peptides; Preparation thereof
    • C07K17/02—Peptides being immobilised on, or in, an organic carrier
    • C07K17/10—Peptides being immobilised on, or in, an organic carrier the carrier being a carbohydrate
    • C07K17/12—Cellulose or derivatives thereof

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a dual carrier immunogenic construct that enhances the effectiveness of active immunization for animals and humans and for development of antibodies to be used for passive immunoprophylaxis or therapy and as scientific or diagnostic reagents.
  • - l - preparation must be immunogenic, that is, it must be able to induce an immune response.
  • Certain agents such as tetanus toxoid are innately immunogenic, and may be administered in vaccines without modification.
  • Other important agents are not immunogenic, however, and must be converted into immunogenic molecules before they can induce an immune response.
  • the immune response is a complex series of reactions that can generally be described as follows:
  • the antigen enters the body and encounters antigen- presenting cells which process the antigen and retain fragments of the antigen on their surfaces;
  • the antigen fragment retained on the antigen presenting cells are recognized by T cells that provide help to B cells;
  • the B cells are stimulated to proliferate and divide into antibody forming cells that secrete antibody against the antigen.
  • T-dependent antigens Most antigens only elicit antibodies with assistance from the T cells and, hence, are known as T-dependent (TD) .
  • T-dependent antigens such as proteins, can be processed by antigen presenting cells and thus activate T cells in the process described above.
  • T-dependent antigens are tetanus and diphtheria toxoids.
  • T-independent antigens include H- influenzae type b polyribosyl- ribitol-phosphate and pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides.
  • T-dependent antigens vary from T-independent antigens in a number of ways. Most notably, the antigens vary in their need for an adjuvant, a compound that will nonspecifically enhance the immune response. The vast majority of soluble T-dependent antigens elicit only low level antibody responses unless they are administered with an adjuvant. It is for this reason that the standard DPT vaccine (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus) is administered with the adjuvant alum. Insolubilization of TD antigens into an aggregated form can also enhance their immunogenicity, even in the absence of adjuvants. (Golub ES and WO Weigle, J. Immunol. 102:389, 1969) In contrast, T- independent antigens can stimulate antibody responses when administered in the absence of an adjuvant, but the response is generally of lower magnitude and shorter duration.
  • DPT vaccine diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus
  • T-independent antigens can prime an immune response so that a memory response can be elicited upon secondary challenge with the same antigen. Memory or secondary responses are stimulated very rapidly and attain significantly higher titers of antibody than are seen in primary responses. T-independent antigens are unable to prime the immune system for secondary responsiveness.
  • the affinity of the antibody for antigen increases with time after immunization with T-dependent but not T-independent antigens.
  • T-dependent antigens stimulate an immature or neonatal immune system more effectively than T-independent antigens.
  • T-dependent antigens usually stimulate IgM, IgGl, IgG2a, and IgE antibodies, while T-independent antigens stimulate IgM, IgGl, IgG2b, and IgG3 antibodies.
  • T-dependent vs. T-independent antigens provide both distinct advantages and disadvantages in their use as effective vaccines.
  • T-dependent antigens can stimulate primary and secondary responses which are long-lived in both adult and in neonatal immune systems, but must frequently be administered with adjuvants.
  • vaccines have been prepared using only an antigen, such as diphtheria or tetanus toxoid, but such vaccines may require the use of adjuvants, such as alum for stimulating optimal responses.
  • adjuvants such as alum for stimulating optimal responses.
  • Adjuvants are often associated with toxicity and have been shown to nonspecifically stimulate the immune system, thus inducing antibodies of specificities that may be undesirable.
  • T-dependent antigens Another disadvantage associated with T-dependent antigens is that very small proteins, such as peptides, are rarely immunogenic, even when administered with adjuvants. This is especially unfortunate because many synthetic peptides are available today that have been carefully synthesized to represent the primary antigenic determinants of various pathogens, and would otherwise make very specific and highly effective vaccines.
  • T-independent antigens such as polysaccharides
  • T-dependent antigens are able to stimulate immune responses in the absence of adjuvants.
  • T- independent antigens cannot stimulate high level or prolonged antibody responses.
  • An even greater disadvantage is their inability to stimulate an immature or B cell defective immune system (Mond JJ. , Immunological Reviews 64:99, 1982) (Mosier DE, et al., J. Immunol. 119:1874, 1977) .
  • the immune response to both T-independent and T-dependent antigens is not satisfactory for many applications.
  • T-independent antigens it is critical to provide protective immunity against such antigens to children, especially against polysaccharides such as H- influenzae and £. pneu oniae .
  • T-dependent antigens it is critical to develop vaccines based on synthetic peptides that represent the primary antigenic determinants of various pathogens.
  • T-independent antigens One approach to enhance the immune response to T-independent antigens involves conjugating polysaccharides such H. influenzae PRP (Cruse JM, Lewis RE Jr. ed. , Conjugate vaccines in Contributions to Microbiology and Immunology, vol. 10, 1989) or oligosaccharide antigens (Anderson PW, et al., J. Immunol. 142:2464, 1989) to a single T-dependent antigen such as tetanus or diphtheria toxoid.
  • Recruitment of T cell help in this way has been shown to provide enhanced immunity to many infants that have been immunized. Unfortunately, only low level antibody titers are elicited, and only some infants respond to initial immunizations.
  • T-dependent antigens are often incorporated into adjuvants or other delivery systems. Such an approach, however, may be toxic or may induce non ⁇ specific enhancement of the antibody response (Dancey GF, et al., J. Immunol. 122:638, 1979) .
  • these approaches with both T-dependent and T- independent antigens incorporate only a single T-dependent carrier to potentiate the immune response. Such approaches do not maximize recruitment of T-cell help. Moreover, these methods are extraordinarily limited and confined by the inability to administer multiple antigens on one carrier, and thus require numerous injections.
  • TNP Trinitrophenyl
  • Ficoll ® an inert synthetic non-ionized high molecular weight polymer of molecular weight 400K.
  • TNP Trinitrophenyl
  • Ficoll ® an inert synthetic non-ionized high molecular weight polymer
  • a conjugate has been found to stimulate a T-independent response in mice in the absence of adjuvant (Mosier DE, et al. , J. Exp. Med. 139:1354 (1974)) .
  • This conjugate alone could not stimulate immune responses in neonatal mice or in B cell immune defective mice (Mosier DE, et al. , J. Immunol. 119:1874, 1977) .
  • Responses of immune defective mice to this conjugate could only be induced in the presence of a particular adjuvant (Ahmad A and Mond JJ, J. Immunol. 136:1223, 1986) . This is disadvantageous for the reasons discussed previously.
  • TNP was conjugated onto insoluble particles and found to be an effective in vitro immunogen for neonatal mice and immune defective mice, but only at very high density of hapten per bead (Mond JJ, et al. , J. Immunol. 123:239, 1979) .
  • Another laboratory, Dintzis et al. demonstrated that the ratio of hapten to carrier, as well as the molecular mass of the carrier, strongly influences immunogenicity of a T independent conjugate and the antibody responses it stimulates (Dintzis RZ, et al. , J. Immunol. 143:1239, 1989) .
  • anti-Ig anti-immunoglobulin antibody conjugated to a dextran (a glucose polymer) of high molecular weight (2xl0 6 daltons) to form an "anti-Ig Dex" conjugate.
  • dextran a glucose polymer
  • 2xl0 6 daltons high molecular weight
  • the present invention overcomes the problems and disadvantages of the prior constructs by providing a dual carrier immunogenic construct that improves immunogenicity.
  • the dual carrier immunogenic construct comprises at least one primary carrier ⁇ that is a large molecular weight molecule conjugated to at least one secondary carrier that is a T- dependent antigen.
  • a primary carrier enables presentation of multiple copies of the secondary carrier at a relatively high antigenic density to both T and B cells.
  • a large backbone matrix acts as an efficient carrier for many secondary carriers so that a single construct could contain multiple antigenic specificities.
  • the primary carrier is a large molecular weight T-independent antigen that can itself directly and potently activate B cells and that can serve as a large but relatively nondegradable backbone to carry many secondary carriers.
  • the secondary carrier is a T-dependent antigen.
  • T-dependent antigen the secondary carrier activates and recruits T cells to augment antibody production to itself as well as to other determinants which may be conjugated to itself or to the primary carrier. Multiple copies of secondary carriers may be conjugated to the primary carrier to significantly enhance T- cell activation and thereby augment antibody production against the secondary carrier.
  • the present invention also includes at least one moiety, such as a hapten and antigen, conjugated to a primary carrier or a secondary carrier. Conjugation permits the moiety to benefit from the T-cell help generated by the secondary carrier.
  • a moiety such as a hapten and antigen
  • the dual carrier immunogenic construct of the invention also permits the conversion of non-immunogenic or poorly immunogenic molecules into strongly immunogenic molecules by conjugating the molecules onto the dual carrier construct.
  • a dual carrier immunogenic construct is prepared from non-toxic components.
  • such dual carrier immunogenic construct may reduce alterations of the antigenic sites, since protein conjugation to the primary carrier, such as dextran, involves minimal alteration to the carrier.
  • the dual carrier immunogenic construct of the invention can be applied to therapy, prophylaxis, diagnosis, and research.
  • the invention comprises a dual carrier immunogenic construct made up of at least one primary carrier that is a large molecular weight molecule of greater than 70 kDa molecular weight conjugated to at least one secondary carrier that is a T-dependent antigen.
  • the immunogenicity of the construct is greater than at least one carrier alone.
  • the primary carrier is a T-independent antigen and the secondary carrier is a protein.
  • at least one moiety is conjugated to at least one carrier of the construct. The immunogenicity of the conjugated moiety is greater than the unconjugated moieties.
  • Another aspect of the invention relates to a vaccine comprising at least one of the dual carrier immunogenic constructs and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
  • a still further aspect of the invention relates to a method of treating a patient by administering an immunostimulatory amount of the vaccine.
  • Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of preparing antibodies by immunizing a host with the vaccine so that antibodies directed against immunogens are produced and then isolating the antibodies or B cells that can be used to produce monoclonal antibodies.
  • the invention relates to an immunotherapeutic composition comprising such antibodies.
  • the invention relates to a method of treating patients by administering a therapeutically effective amount of the immunotherapeutic composition.
  • the invention relates to a diagnostic or research reagent comprising such antibodies.
  • Fig. 1 Illustrative depiction of the two classical types of antigens based on their T cell requirements. T- independent antigens (and haptenated Tl antigens) stimulate responses in the absence of T cells, and T- dependent antigens (and haptenated TD antigens) require T cell participation for elicitation of optimal antibody responses.
  • Fig. 2 Schematic drawing of one embodiment of dual carrier immunogenic construct:
  • the primary carrier is a high molecular weight polymer (HMWP) , for example Dextran (Dex) ;
  • the secondary carrier, conjugated to Dex can be any substance that stimulates high levels of T cell activation
  • the hapten is any low molecular weight molecule, such as an oligosaccharide, polysaccharide, peptide, drug, etc., which is conjugated to the secondary carrier.
  • FIG. 3 Graphic representation of the dose response to BSA-Dex conjugate.
  • Serum IgGl antibody titers to bovine serum albumin (BSA) were measured in mice immunized intravenously with BSA-Dex in PBS conjugates at doses ranging from 10-500 ⁇ g/mouse. Mice were bled 14 days after immunization and antibody titers determined by ELISA. Unconjugated BSA is not immunogenic in mice. This figure shows that conjugation to Dex converts BSA into a highly potent immunogen.
  • BSA bovine serum albumin
  • Fig. 4 Chart depicting proteins of various sizes that were conjugated to Dex and injected intravenously (IV) into mice at the indicated doses.
  • Serum IgGl antibody titers were determined by ELISA.
  • immunization of mice with antigens not coupled to dextran gave no detectable antibody formation (titers were less than 10) except for the cholera toxin immunization which gave detectable titers, albeit significantly less than the Dex conjugate.
  • This figure shows that conjugation of different proteins to Dex converts them into effective immunogens.
  • FIG. 5 Graphic representation of the response to haptenated BSA.
  • Mice were immunized with trinitrophenylated BSA (TNP-BSA) (50 ⁇ g) or with TNP-BSA conjugated to Dex (TNP-BSA Dex) (50 ⁇ g) and were bled 21 days later.
  • Anti-TNP titers were measured by ELISA.
  • TNP-BSA trinitrophenylated BSA
  • TNP-BSA Dex TNP-BSA conjugated to Dex
  • BSA secondary carrier
  • FIG. 7 Graphic representation of multiple antigens conjugated to dextran.
  • This study evaluates the antibody response to a Dex complex which has been prepared by conjugating three antigenically different molecules to Dex.
  • TNP coupled with ovalbumin (OVA) OVA
  • LYS lysozyme
  • mice were bled and sera titered by ELISA for anti-OVA, anti-TNP and anti-LYS antibody titers.
  • This study demonstrates that a vaccine preparation can be made by conjugating multiple unrelated antigens onto the primary Dex carrier.
  • FIG. 8 Graphic representation of the boosting of haptenated BSA-Dex. Mice were immunized with (TNP-BSA) Dex (50 ⁇ g) and then boosted with a second injection of either TNP-BSA alone or with TNP-BSA conjugated to Dex. Mice were bled 14 days later and sera titered for anti- TNP and anti-BSA antibody.
  • This figure shows that once mice are immunized with the Dex conjugate (a construct consisting of both primary and secondary carrier) , a good booster response is achieved and that antibody boosting can be achieved as effectively with the unconjugated TNP-BSA (secondary carrier only) as with the complete vaccine construct conjugate. This demonstrates that once a primary response has been stimulated with the conjugate, a large secondary response may be elicited by the unconjugated or natural antigen.
  • FIG. 9 Graphic representation of the kinetics of BSA-Dex boosted with BSA. Mice were immunized with 50 ⁇ g of BSA-Dex (primary and secondary carrier) and 5 weeks later boosted with 50 ⁇ g of BSA (secondary carrier only) . Mice were bled at various times and sera titered by ELISA for antibody titers to BSA, the secondary carrier. This figure shows that the secondary antibody responses can be elicited by BSA only, the secondary carrier not conjugated to dextran, and that the response is very long-lived and persists for greater than 11 weeks.
  • FIG. 10 Graphic representation of antibody response to the carrier.
  • BSA-Dex conjugates 50 ⁇ g were injected into normal or immune defective mice which are unresponsive to Dex. Mice were bled 11, 20 and 29 days later, and sera anti-BSA titers were measured by ELISA.
  • This study demonstrates that the Dex carrier may simply provide a matrix to present antigen to cells in a multivalent array, that the antibody response to the Dex conjugate does not depend on the ability of mice to mount antibody responses to the dextran carrier, that cells of the immune system need not recognize Dex as an immunogen for it to function as an effective carrier, and importantly that the BSA-Dex conjugate can stimulate responses in immune defective mice.
  • FIG. 11 Graphic representation of the immunogenicity of BSA-Dex in baby mice. Both 2 week old mice and adult mice were injected intraperitoneally with 50 ⁇ g of BSA-Dex and bled 12 days later. Sera anti-BSA titers were measured by ELISA. This study shows that even mice that are immunologically immature can be effectively immunized with this Dex protein-carrier conjugate and elicit good antibody responses to the secondary carrier (BSA) .
  • BSA secondary carrier
  • Fig. 12 Graphic representation of the effect of molecular weight.
  • BSA-Dex conjugates were made using size separated Dex of MW 70K, 400K, or 2000K. Mice were injected IV with 50 ⁇ g of the various conjugates and bled 14 days later. Serum antibody titers were determined by ELISA. This figure shows that Dex must be >70 kDa in size to provide an effective carrier molecule and that, although 400 kDa elicits a good response, a larger molecular weight carrier molecule is even more effective.
  • FIG. 13 Graphic representation of the effect of injection mode. Mice were immunized with BSA-Dex via three different
  • the invention relates to an immunogenic construct made up of at least two carriers, at least one primary carrier that is a large molecular weight molecule of greater than 70 kDa molecular weight and a secondary carrier that is a T-dependent antigen conjugated thereto as represented in Figure 2.
  • a carrier is any substance to which other substances may be attached so that the immunogenicity of the attached substances is enhanced.
  • the immunogenicity of the construct is greater than the immunogenicity of at least one carrier alone.
  • Methods of measuring immunogenicity are well known to those in the art and primarily include measurement of serum antibody including measurement of amount, avidity, and isotype distribution at various times after injection of the construct. Greater immunogenicity may be reflected by a higher titer and/or increased life span of the antibodies. Immunogenicity may also be measured by the ability to induce
  • Immunogenicity may also be measured by the ability to immunize neonatal and/or immune defective mice. Immunogenicity may be measured in the patient population to be treated or in a population that mimics the immune response of the patient population.
  • the dual carrier construct is an extremely potent activator of T cell help via mechanisms such as enhanced antigen presentation by B cells, macrophages or other antigen presenting cells.
  • Such a construct will elicit very rapid and long lived antibody formation in adults, children, and those with immature or immunodeficient immune systems.
  • the construct of the invention is preferably water soluble or may be maintained in aqueous media.
  • the solubility may derive from the use of solubilizing reagents during the synthesis of the construct.
  • the construct of the invention may be maintained in aqueous media by the use of solubilizing reagents.
  • the process of synthesizing the construct of the invention allows one to advantageously control the physical and chemical properties of the final product.
  • the properties that may be controlled include modifying the charge on primary and secondary carriers (an advantage in light of evidence that cationized proteins may be more immunogenic) , varying the size of the construct by varying the size of the primary carriers, selecting the degree of crosslinking of the construct (to obtain variations of size and half-life in the circulation) , selecting the number of copies of secondary carriers conjugated to primary carriers, and targeting to selected cell populations (such as to macrophages to enhance antigen presentation) .
  • the immune response to the construct of the invention may be further enhanced by the addition of immunomodulators and/or cell targeting moieties.
  • These entities include, for example, (1) detoxified lipopolysaccharides or derivatives, (2) muramyl dipeptides, (3) carbohydrates, lipids, and peptides that may interact with cell surface determinants to target the construct to immunologically relevant cells, (4) interleukins, and (5) antibodies that may interact with cell surface components.
  • the construct of the invention is made up of at least one primary carrier that provides a large backbone matrix to which one or more copies of secondary carrier may be conjugated.
  • one or more primary or secondary carriers may be further conjugated to moieties.
  • Methods of conjugation are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, and include the heteroligation techniques of Brunswick M. , et al. , J. Immunol. 140:3364 (1988), specifically incorporated herein by reference. See also Wong, S.S. Chemistry of Protein Conjugates and Crosslinking CRC Press, Boston (1991) , specifically incorporated herein by reference.
  • the conjugation of carriers within this invention may provide minimal disruption of critical epitopes on the carriers, since protein conjugation to a carrier, such as dextran, involves minimal alterations to the dextran.
  • a primary carrier within the invention may also include functional groups or, alternatively, may be chemically manipulated to bear functional groups.
  • the presence of functional groups may facilitate covalent conjugation of a primary carrier to one or more secondary carriers.
  • Such functional groups include, but are not limited to, amino groups, carboxyl groups, aldehydes, hydrazides, epoxides, and thiols.
  • the large backbone of each primary carrier provides an ideal matrix for many different secondary carriers so that one vaccine
  • RULE 261 could contain multiple antigenic specificities. Moreover, the primary carrier stimulates antibody production by presenting numerous copies of secondary carriers at a relatively high antigenic density to both B and T cells. It may also provide other advantages including targeting of the construct to macrophages or other cell types to enable enhanced antigen processing.
  • the molecular weight of at least one primary carrier ranges from greater than 70,000 to 2,000,000 daltons and above. As set forth in Figure 12, a more preferred molecular weight is 400,000 daltons and above, and an even more preferred molecular weight is 2,000,000 daltons.
  • the conjugation of the primary carrier to at least one secondary carrier may result in crosslinking of the primary carrier. Such crosslinking may permit the use of lower molecular weight carriers (such as 70,000 daltons) so long as the final construct is of a higher molecular weight. Based on the teachings contained herein together with the ordinary skill in the art, the skilled artisan will know how to select the optimum molecular weight for the particular construct desired.
  • At least one primary carrier is a T-independent antigen, thereby combining the advantages of T-independent and T-dependent antigens.
  • the invention may be practiced, however, with a primary carrier that is not immunogenic by itself.
  • a primary carrier may be naturally occurring, a semisynthetic or a totally synthetic large molecular weight molecule.
  • at least one primary carrier is a polymer selected from the group consisting of dextran, carboxymethyl cellulose, agarose, pneumococcal .type III polysaccharide, ficoll, polyacrylamide, and combinations thereof.
  • the primary carrier is a dextran.
  • dextran refers to a polysaccharide composed of a single sugar and may be obtained from any number of sources, including Pharmacia.
  • Ficoll an example of a semi-synthetic polymer, is an inert synthetic non- ionized high molecular weight polymer.
  • Synthetic polymers include polyacrylamide (a water-soluble high molecular weight polymer of acrylic resin) , poly (lactide-co-glycolide) , polyvinyl alcohol, partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl acetate, and polyvinylpyrrolidine.
  • the secondary carrier of this construct also provides specific advantages for eliciting good antibody responses.
  • the secondary carrier can activate and recruit T cells and thereby augment T cell dependent antibody production.
  • the secondary carrier need not, however, be strongly immunogenic by itself, although strongly immunogenic carriers are within the scope of this invention. Coupling of multiple copies of the secondary carrier to the primary carrier significantly augments antibody production against the secondary carrier even in the absence of adjuvants.
  • the secondary carrier is a protein, a peptide, a T cell adjuvant or any other compound capable of activating and recruiting T cell help.
  • the protein may be selected from a group consisting of but not limited to viral, bacterial, parasitic, animal and fungal proteins.
  • the secondary carrier is albumin (such as bovine serum albumin) , tetanus toxoid, diphtheria toxoid, or bacterial outer membrane protein, all of which may be obtained from biochemical or pharmaceutical supply companies or prepared by standard methodology (Cruse, JM (ed.) Conjugate Vaccines in Contributions to Microbiology and Immunology vol. 10 (1989) , specifically incorporated herein by reference) .
  • Other proteins that could function as secondary carriers would be known to those of ordinary skill in the art of immunology.
  • the secondary carriers of the invention are capable of being conjugated to at least one primary carrier.
  • the secondary carriers may either contain functional groups that can react with the primary carriers or the secondary carriers may be chemically manipulated to be capable of reacting with the primary carriers discussed above.
  • the secondary carriers of the invention are preferably water soluble, whether conjugated or unconjugated or whether coupled to the immunogens discussed below.
  • moieties may be further conjugated to one or more of the primary and/or secondary carriers, as represented in Figure 2. Such conjugation promotes enhanced antibody responses to the moiety.
  • Techniques to conjugate such moieties to either the primary or secondary carriers are well known to those skilled in the art, and include, in part, coupling through available functional groups (such as amino, carboxyl, thio and aldehyde groups) . See S.S. Wong, Chemistry of Protein Conjugate and Crosslinking CRC Press (1991) , and Brenkeley et al. , Brief Survey of Methods for Preparing Protein Conjugates With Dyes, Haptens and Cross-Linking Agents, Bioconjugate Chemistry 3 #1 (Jan.
  • moiety is any substance that is able to stimulate the immune system either by itself or once coupled.
  • Moieties include haptens, antigens, or combinations thereof.
  • Haptens refer to small molecules, such as chemicals, dust, and allergens, that by themselves are not able to elicit an antibody response, but can once coupled to a carrier.
  • An antigen is any molecule that, under the right circumstances, can induce the formation of antibodies.
  • haptens and antigens may derive from but are not limited to bacteria, rickettsiae, fungi, viruses, parasites, drugs, or chemicals. They may include, for example, small molecules such as peptides, oligosaccharides (for example the polyribosyl-ribitol-phosphate of H__. influenzae) , toxins, endotoxin, etc.
  • the invention relates to vaccines that are made up of the dual carrier immunogenic construct together with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
  • Such vaccines will contain an effective therapeutic amount of the dual carrier immunogenic construct together with a suitable amount of carrier so as to provide the form for proper administration to the patient.
  • Pharmaceutically acceptable carriers can be sterile liquids, such as water and oils, including those of petroleum, animal, vegetable or synthetic origin, such as peanut oil, soybean oil, mineral oil, sesame oil and the like. Water is a preferred carrier when the pharmaceutical composition is administered intravenously. Saline solutions and aqueous dextrose and glycerol solutions can also be employed as liquid carriers, particularly for injectable solutions. Suitable pharmaceutical carriers are described in Martin, E.W., Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, specifically incorporated herein by reference.
  • the vaccines that may be constructed from the dual carrier immunogenic construct of the invention may include, but are not limited to, the vaccines set forth in Chart 1.
  • E. coli. endotoxin or J5 antigen LPS, Lipid A and Gentabiose
  • Klebsiella polysaccharides (serotype specific)
  • S. aureus. types 5 and 8 (serotype specific and common protective antigens) S. epidermidis. serotype polysaccharide I, II and III (and common protective antigens) N. menin ⁇ iditis. serotype specific or protein antigens Polio vaccine
  • Hepatitis A, B, C, and others Human immunodeficiency virus I and II (GP120, GP41, GP160, p24, others) Herpes simplex types 1 and 2 CMV EBV
  • Rhinovirus Group B streptococcus, serotypes, la, lb, II and III Pseudomonas aeryinosa (serotype specific) Rhinovirus
  • the invention also relates to the treatment of a patient by administration of an immunostimulatory amount of the vaccine.
  • Patient refers to any subject for whom the treatment may be beneficial and includes mammals, especially humans, horses, cows, dogs, and cats as well as other animals, such as chickens.
  • An immunostimulatory amount refers to that amount of vaccine that is able to stimulate the immune response of the patient for the prevention, amelioration, or treatment of diseases.
  • the vaccine of the invention may be administered by any route, but is preferably administered by intravenous, intramuscular, subcutaneous injections or intranasal immunizations using, for example, aerosolized particles.
  • the invention also relates to a method of preparing an immunotherapeutic agent against infections caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, or chemicals by immunizing a host with the vaccine described above so that the donor produces antibodies directed against the vaccine.
  • Antibodies would be isolated or B cells may be obtained to later fuse with myeloma cells to make monoclonal antibodies.
  • the method of making monoclonal antibodies is well known in the art, Kohler and Milstein Nature 256:495 (1975), specifically incorporated herein by reference, and needs no further description here.
  • immunotherapeutic agent refers to a composition of antibodies that are directed against specific immunogens for use in passive treatment of patients.
  • a plasma donor is any subject that is injected with a vaccine for the production of antibodies against the immunogens contained in the vaccine.
  • the invention also relates to a method of treating a patient by the administration of a protective amount of the immunotherapeutic agent.
  • a protective amount of the immunotherapeutic agent is passive in that it does not call on the patient to produce antibodies against an immunogen, but rather uses antibodies produced by the plasma donor against the immunogen.
  • the amount of therapeutic antibodies is protective if it presents a sufficient number of antibodies that can prevent, ameliorate, or treat the disease caused by the immunogen. Such an amount may be determined by those of ordinary skill in the art and varies based on the characteristics of the patient and the disease profile.
  • Another aspect of the invention relates to use of the dual conjugate or vaccine based on the dual conjugate to treat those suffering from allergies. Because allergens are often poor immunogens, the dual conjugate could convert allergens into strong immunogens. The administration of allergens by inclusion in the dual conjugate could avoid unwanted IgE responses while stimulating the desired high level of IgG. A further aspect of the invention involves the additional conjugation of TGF- ⁇ to further suppress the unwanted IgE response.
  • the invention also relates to a method of producing a diagnostic and/or research reagent to detect agents that are characteristic of diseases caused by, for example, bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites or chemicals by immunizing a host with a vaccine described above so that the host produces antibodies (or B cells) against the agents.
  • the antibodies and/or B cells may be isolated as described above.
  • diagnostic reagent refers to a composition of antibodies (polyclonal or monoclonal) that may be used to detect agents that are characteristic of diseases.
  • research reagent refers to a composition of antibodies (polyclonal or monoclonal) that may be used in the laboratory.
  • mice (DBA/2J) were used at 8 weeks old unless otherwise noted and were immunized with 0.1 ml and a saline solution of various antigens intravenously, subcutaneously, or intramuscularly. In all experiments 5 mice per group were used. Bleeding was by tail vein.
  • AECM Dex Amino-ethyl carbamyl dextran
  • AECM T2000 dextran was passed over a gel permeation column (CL2B column 2.5 x 105 cm) . Material from the from the first third of the column was pooled and determined to have an average molecular weight of 2,000,000 daltons. This material is now referred to as HMW AECM Dextran.
  • AECM dextrans were also prepared from T70 and T500 dextran (Pharmacia) and fractionated on CL6B and CL4B columns, respectively.
  • Trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid was used to determine the average number of amino groups per dextran molecule.
  • High molecular weight dextran preparations had from 150 to 200 amino groups per 2,000,000 daltons.
  • the AECM T500 preparation had an average of 150 amino groups per 400,000 daltons and the AECM T70 preparation had an average of 35 amino groups per 70,000 daltons.
  • AECM dextran was routinely radiolabelled by reaction with a small amount of N-succinimidy [3H-2.3] propionate (Amersham) [3H-NSP] .
  • Proteins were conjugated to the AECM dextran using heteroligation techniques (Brunswick M, et al. , J. Immunol. 140:3364, 1988, specifically incorporated herein by reference) . Protein was acetylthiolated and the dextran iodoacetylated with the reagent SIAP (Brunswick M, et al. , J. Immunol. 140:3364, 1988, specifically incorporated herein by reference) but other reagents such as iodoacetic acid n-hydroxy succinimide ester (IANHS) could be used.
  • SIAP iodoacetic acid n-hydroxy succinimide ester
  • Proteins were typically reacted with 4-8 fold molar excess of SATA (Calbiochem) for 1-2 hours.
  • the activated dextrans and protein were each desalted into Acetate buffer (10 mM NaAcetate, 0.1 M NaCl, 2 mM EDTA, 0.02% SodiumAzide, pH 5.0) to remove excess reagent and concentrated using a Centricon 30.
  • Protein and dextran were typically mixed at molar ratios of 30-60:1, the pH raised to 7.5 with HEPES buffer + hydroxylamine. The final concentrations were 75 mM HEPES, 2mM EDTA, 0.02% azide and 50 mM hydroxylamine.
  • the conjugate was treated with 0.2 mM mercaptoethanol for 1 hour (to consume any remaining iodoacetyl groups) followed by 10.mM iodoacetamide (to consume all thiol groups) , further concentrated if necessary, and passed over a 1 x 58 cm gel filtration column, equilibrated with PBS, containing S200SF, S300SF or S400SF (Pharmacia) , depending on the molecular weight of the protein. The radioactive void column peak was pooled and concentrated if necessary. Solutions were sterilized by passage through a Millex GV or HV filter (Millipore) .
  • P74 peptide (Cys-Asn-Ile-Gly-Lys-Val-Pro-Asn-Val-Gln-Asp- Gln-Asn-Lys) (SEQ ID NO:l), was conjugated to BSA as follows. 11.6 mg BSA (Pentex) in 400 ul HEPES buffer was made 10 mM in iodoacetamide. This was to block any native thiol groups which might react with the heterobifunctional reagent and cause polymerization. After a 10 minute incubation, the protein was iodoacetylated by adding a 12-fold molar excess of IANHS. After one hour, the solution was desalted into acetate buffer and concentrated to 39 mg/ml.
  • the thiol peptide was radiolabeled so that the amount to peptide conjugated to BSA could be estimated.
  • the peptide was dissolved in HEPES buffer and a 1.5 fold molar excess of Ellman's reagent was added to block the thiol. After 30 minutes, a 10 fold molar excess of N-ethyl maleimide was added to consume thiols of the half-Ellman' s reagent released. 1 hour later the thiol protected peptide was radiolabeled with N- succinimidyl [ 3 H-2,3] -propionate ( 3 H-NSP) (Amersham) .
  • the peptide solution was made 50 mM dithiothreitol and all reagents removed on a 1 x 38 cm G-10 column (Pharmacia) .
  • the radioactive peak running in the void volume was pooled.
  • the specific activity of the peptide was about 2.5 x 10 11 cpm/mole.
  • the radiolabeled thiol peptide was added to 4.5 mg iodoacetylated BSA at a molar ratio of 15:1 and the pH raised to 7.5 by the addition of 5x HEPES buffer.
  • the final volume was 1.2 ml.
  • B-lactoglobulin B aprotinin, ovalbumin (OVA) and lysozyme were obtained from Sigma.
  • Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was from Pentex or Amresco (Biotech grade) .
  • Vaccinia protein was the generous gift of Dr. Isabella Quarkyi (Georgetown University Medical School) .
  • This assay was performed similarly to our previously described assay, except in this case we used alkaline phosphate conjugated antibodies and microtiter wells were coated for 2 hours with 10 ⁇ g/ml of TNP Ficoll for measuring anti TNP antibodies or with 10 ⁇ g/ml of BSA for measuring anti-BSA antibodies.
  • microtiter plate wells were filled with 200 ⁇ l of p-nitrophenyl phosphate (1 mg/ml in 1 M Tris, pH 9.8) , incubated for to 1 hour at room temperature, and the A 405 of the solution in each well was determined with a Titertek Multiskan Spectrophotometer (Flow Laboratories, McLean, VA) .
  • HMWP high molecular weight polymer
  • a secondary protein carrier could include a wide variety of proteins such as BSA or toxins/toxoids such as cholera, tetanus or diphtheria.
  • the molecular weight of the Dex primary carrier can vary, but must be > 70 kDa and is a most effective carrier molecule at about 400 and 2000 kDa) in size ( Figure 12) .
  • the optimal size for the HMWP may vary depending on the specific primary carrier utilized.
  • the Dex HMWP is a polysaccharide and immune defective mice do not mount antibody responses to it. However, both normal and immune defective mice produce equally good antibody responses to BSA coupled to Dex (fig. 10) .
  • Dex as a primary carrier simply provides a matrix to present antigen(s) to cells in a multivalent array and itself need not be immunogenic.
  • These studies also show that a variety of proteins could be used as secondary carriers and that the secondary carrier could serve both as a vaccine antigen and a carrier for non-immunogenic antigens.
  • TNP-BSA secondary carrier BSA
  • Dex HMWP primary carrier
  • Antibodies will be elicited to the secondary carrier as well as the antigen conjugated to it and non-immunogenic haptenic molecules will be rendered immunogenic. This could be particularly important if the secondary carrier is an antigen to which antibody would provide protective immunity, such as tetanus or diphtheria toxoid.
  • This vaccine construct also allows multiple unrelated antigens to be conjugated to the primary carrier ( Figure 7) .
  • TNP was coupled to OVA (the secondary carrier) and then conjugated to Dex (the primary carrier) .
  • LYS was also independently conjugated directly to Dex. Antibodies were elicited to each of the antigens.
  • the HMWP backbone of this vaccine construct is suitable for producing multivalent vaccines with an array of secondary carrier" pTfoteins and or many different antigens coupled to the secondary carrier, (multicarrier/multiantigen vaccine)
  • the dual carrier vaccine construct was shown to be effective with a variety of antigens. This data is supported and extended using a parasitic (malarial) derived peptide antigen (P74, SEQ ID N0:1) .
  • the dual carrier vaccine construct was shown to be significantly better than peptide antigen alone or peptide conjugated to the secondary carrier BSA ( Figure 6) .
  • a good antibody response was elicited to this small antigen only after the P74-BSA conjugate was coupled to the HMWP primary carrier (Dex) .
  • the HMWP carrier simply provides a matrix to present antigens to cells and need not be immunogenic (Fig. 10) .
  • the BSA-Dex conjugate was analyzed to evaluate the effect of host immune status and route of immunization on antibody response.
  • Both immunologically mature adult and immunologically immature baby mice were effectively immunized with the primary and secondary carrier complex demonstrating that the dual carrier vaccine will elicit an antibody response even in babies and young infants with immature immunity ( Figure 11) .
  • the antibody response to BSA (the secondary carrier) is similar in both the adult and baby mice.
  • IV, IM, and SC routes all elicited a good antibody response to BSA ( Figure 13) .
  • the route of administration of vaccine is not limited therefore to any single type of inoculation and it is not limited by the age or immunologic status of the vaccine recipient.
  • the size of the HMWP is critical to provide an effective vaccine construct. For example for the HMWP Dex the size must be >70,000D, preferably >400,000D (Fig. 12) .
  • a multiple carrier vaccine is illustrated in Fig. 14.
  • Three secondary carriers are employed in this system, two of which are further conjugated to another moiety.
  • H. influenzae PRP is coupled to a tetanus toxoid secondary carrier
  • a malarial derived peptide is coupled to a meningococcal outer membrane protein
  • a viral protein (such as RSV-F protein) is left unconjugated.
  • One or more of each of the secondary carriers is then conjugated to the high molecular weight polymer backbone.
  • a vaccine can be designed to bear multiple specificities under any of the following four approaches:
  • TNP-BSA (no adjuvant) TNP-BSA dextran
  • anti-TNP titers anti-TNP or BSA titer
  • mice were immunized either subcutaneously or intranasally (two injections each) with 1.0 ⁇ g tetanus toxoid-
  • TT-Pnl4 Pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide 14 (TT-Pnl4) (s.c.) or 6.0 ⁇ g TT-Pnl4 (intranasal) .
  • Serum anti-Pnl4 titers were determined by standard techniques 14 days later:
  • administration of the dual conjugate vaccine by the intranasal route appears to be an effective route of immunization and me be as effective as a parenteral injection.
  • the dual conjugate vaccine may have as one of its components a physiologic adjuvant (cytokines as well as various T and/or B cell activating molecules) .
  • the vaccine preparation may be mixed with any agent that might promote enhanced mucosal adsorption as well as absorption to enhance its effectiveness.
  • allergens haptens, peptides, or proteins
  • a protein carrier as, for example, tetanus toxoid, which will then be conjugated to a large molecular weight polysaccharide carrier.
  • Another feature of this invention would be the additional conjugation of a cytokine, such as TGF- ⁇ . Because such cytokines can suppress Ig secretion, the conjugation of cytokines should suppress the unwanted IgE responses that account for allergic responses. To conjugate a cytokine, one could employ the disclosed conjugation techniques or other methods in the art.
  • Cys Asn lie Gly Lys Val Pro Asn Val Gin Asp Gin Asn Lys 1 5 10

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Abstract

Produit d'assemblage immunogène à double porteur constitué d'au moins un porteur primaire comprenant une molécule de masse moléculaire élevée supérieure à 70 kDa, et au moins un porteur secondaire comprenant un antigène T-dépendant conjugué à un porteur primaire. Le produit d'assemblage immunogène à double porteur peut également comprendre des fractions telles que des haptènes et des antigènes. Lesdits produits d'assemblage immunogènes sont adaptés à une utilisation dans le diagnostic, le traitement et la prévention de maladies.
PCT/US1996/009281 1995-06-06 1996-06-05 Produit d'assemblage immunogene a double porteur WO1996039182A1 (fr)

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AU60951/96A AU6095196A (en) 1995-06-06 1996-06-05 Dual carrier immunogenic construct
JP9501635A JPH10504842A (ja) 1995-06-06 1996-06-05 二重担体免疫原性構築物

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Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US11116828B2 (en) 2017-12-06 2021-09-14 Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. Compositions comprising Streptococcus pneumoniae polysaccharide-protein conjugates and methods of use thereof
US11642406B2 (en) 2018-12-19 2023-05-09 Merck Sharp & Dohme Llc Compositions comprising Streptococcus pneumoniae polysaccharide-protein conjugates and methods of use thereof

Citations (3)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4644059A (en) * 1982-07-06 1987-02-17 Connaught Laboratories, Inc. Haemophilus influenzae B polysaccharide-diptheria toxoid conjugate vaccine
EP0471177A2 (fr) * 1990-08-13 1992-02-19 American Cyanamid Company Hemagglutinine filamenteuse de Bordetella pertussis à titre de molécules porteuses pour vaccins conjugués
WO1993015760A1 (fr) * 1992-02-11 1993-08-19 U.S. Government, As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army Structure immunogene a double vecteur

Patent Citations (3)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4644059A (en) * 1982-07-06 1987-02-17 Connaught Laboratories, Inc. Haemophilus influenzae B polysaccharide-diptheria toxoid conjugate vaccine
EP0471177A2 (fr) * 1990-08-13 1992-02-19 American Cyanamid Company Hemagglutinine filamenteuse de Bordetella pertussis à titre de molécules porteuses pour vaccins conjugués
WO1993015760A1 (fr) * 1992-02-11 1993-08-19 U.S. Government, As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army Structure immunogene a double vecteur

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BEUVERY, E.C. ET AL.: "Vaccine potential of menningococcal group C poly-saccharide-tetanus toxoid conjugate", JOURNAL OF INFECTION, vol. 6, 1983, pages 247 - 255, XP002013224 *
YSSEL, H: ET AL.: "Regulation of IgE synthesis by T cells and cytokines", ANN. FR. ANESTH. RÉANIM., vol. 12, 1993, pages 109 - 113, XP000600349 *

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US11116828B2 (en) 2017-12-06 2021-09-14 Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. Compositions comprising Streptococcus pneumoniae polysaccharide-protein conjugates and methods of use thereof
US11850278B2 (en) 2017-12-06 2023-12-26 Merck Sharp & Dohme Llc Compositions comprising Streptococcus pneumoniae polysaccharide-protein conjugates and methods of use thereof
US11642406B2 (en) 2018-12-19 2023-05-09 Merck Sharp & Dohme Llc Compositions comprising Streptococcus pneumoniae polysaccharide-protein conjugates and methods of use thereof

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EP0776216A1 (fr) 1997-06-04

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