Lipid A analog CRX-527 conjugated to synthetic peptides enhances vaccination efficacy and tumor control.

Adjuvants play a determinant role in cancer vaccination by optimally activating APCs and shaping the T cell response. Bacterial-derived lipid A is one of the most potent immune-stimulators known, and is recognized via Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). In this study, we explore the use of the synthetic, non-toxic, lipid A analog CRX-527 as an adjuvant for peptide cancer vaccines. This well-defined adjuvant was covalently conjugated to antigenic peptides as a strategy to improve vaccine efficacy. We show that coupling of this TLR4 agonist to peptide antigens improves vaccine uptake by dendritic cells (DCs), maturation of DCs and T cell activation in vitro, and stimulates DC migration and functional T cell priming in vivo. This translates into enhanced tumor protection upon prophylactic and therapeutic vaccination via intradermal injection against B16-OVA melanoma and HPV-related TC1 tumors. These results highlight the potential of CRX-527 as an adjuvant for molecularly defined cancer vaccines, and support the design of adjuvant-peptide conjugates as a strategy to optimize vaccine formulation.

Multivalent, Stabilized Mannose-6-Phosphates for the Targeted Delivery of Toll-Like Receptor Ligands and Peptide Antigens.

Mannose-6-phosphate (M6P) is recognized by the mannose-6-phosphate receptor and plays an important role in the transport of cargo to the endosomes, making it an attractive tool to improve endosomal trafficking of vaccines. We describe herein the assembly of peptide antigen conjugates carrying clusters of mannose-6-C-phosphonates (M6Po). The M6Po's are stable M6P mimics that are resistant to cleavage of the phosphate group by endogenous phosphatases. Two different strategies for the incorporation of the M6Po clusters in the conjugate have been developed: the first relies on a "post-assembly" click approach employing an M6Po bearing an alkyne functionality; the second hinges on an M6Po C-glycoside amino acid building block that can be used in solid-phase peptide synthesis. The generated conjugates were further equipped with a TLR7 ligand to stimulate dendritic cell (DC) maturation. While antigen presentation is hindered by the presence of the M6Po clusters, the incorporation of the M6Po clusters leads to increased activation of DCs, thus demonstrating their potential in improving vaccine adjuvanticity by intraendosomally active TLR ligands.

Self-Adjuvanting Cancer Vaccines from Conjugation-Ready Lipid A Analogues and Synthetic Long Peptides.

Self-adjuvanting vaccines, wherein an antigenic peptide is covalently bound to an immunostimulating agent, have been shown to be promising tools for immunotherapy. Synthetic Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands are ideal adjuvants for covalent linking to peptides or proteins. We here introduce a conjugation-ready TLR4 ligand, CRX-527, a potent powerful lipid A analogue, in the generation of novel conjugate-vaccine modalities. Effective chemistry has been developed for the synthesis of the conjugation-ready ligand as well as the connection of it to the peptide antigen. Different linker systems and connection modes to a model peptide were explored, and in vitro evaluation of the conjugates showed them to be powerful immune-activating agents, significantly more effective than the separate components. Mounting the CRX-527 ligand at the N-terminus of the model peptide antigen delivered a vaccine modality that proved to be potent in activation of dendritic cells, in facilitating antigen presentation, and in initiating specific CD8+ T-cell-mediated killing of antigen-loaded target cells in vivo. Synthetic TLR4 ligands thus show great promise in potentiating the conjugate vaccine platform for application in cancer vaccination.

Dual Synthetic Peptide Conjugate Vaccine Simultaneously Triggers TLR2 and NOD2 and Activates Human Dendritic Cells.

Simultaneous triggering of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and NOD-like receptors (NLRs) has previously been shown to synergistically activate monocytes, dendritic cells, and macrophages. We applied these properties in a T-cell vaccine setting by conjugating the NOD2-ligand muramyl-dipeptide (MDP) and TLR2-ligand Pam3CSK4 to a synthetic peptide derived from a model antigen. Stimulation of human DCs with the MDP-peptide-Pam3CSK4 conjugate led to a strongly increased secretion of pro-inflammatory and Th1-type cytokines and chemokines. We further show that the conjugated ligands retain their ability to trigger their respective receptors, while even improving NOD2-triggering. Also, activation of murine DCs was enhanced by the dual triggering, ultimately leading to effective induction of vaccine-specific T cells expressing IFNγ, IL-2, and TNFα. Together, these data indicate that the dual MDP-SLP-Pam3CSK4 conjugate constitutes a chemically well-defined vaccine approach that holds promise for the use in the treatment of virus infections and cancer.

Stabilization of the Low-Spin State in a Mononuclear Iron(II) Complex and High-Temperature Cooperative Spin Crossover Mediated by Hydrogen Bonding.

The tetrapyridyl ligand bbpya (bbpya=N,N-bis(2,2'-bipyrid-6-yl)amine) and its mononuclear coordination compound [Fe(bbpya)(NCS)2 ] (1) were prepared. According to magnetic susceptibility, differential scanning calorimetry fitted to Sorai's domain model, and powder X-ray diffraction measurements, 1 is low-spin at room temperature, and it exhibits spin crossover (SCO) at an exceptionally high transition temperature of T1/2 =418 K. Although the SCO of compound 1 spans a temperature range of more than 150 K, it is characterized by a wide (21 K) and dissymmetric hysteresis cycle, which suggests cooperativity. The crystal structure of the LS phase of compound 1 shows strong NH⋅⋅⋅S intermolecular H-bonding interactions that explain, at least in part, the cooperative SCO behavior observed for complex 1. DFT and CASPT2 calculations under vacuum demonstrate that the bbpya ligand generates a stronger ligand field around the iron(II) core than its analogue bapbpy (N,N'-di(pyrid-2-yl)-2,2'-bipyridine-6,6'-diamine); this stabilizes the LS state and destabilizes the HS state in 1 compared with [Fe(bapbpy)(NCS)2 ] (2). Periodic DFT calculations suggest that crystal-packing effects are significant for compound 2, in which they destabilize the HS state by about 1500 cm(-1) . The much lower transition temperature found for the SCO of 2 compared to 1 appears to be due to the combined effects of the different ligand field strengths and crystal packing.