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CANCER VACCINES

An optimized antigen–protein fusion

Nature Biomedical Engineering volume 4, pages 583–584 (2020)Cite this article

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The fusion of an immunogenic peptide and the protein transthyretin protects the peptide antigen from proteolytic degradation, optimizes its uptake in local draining lymphatics and reduces its presentation in uninflamed distal lymphoid organs, as shown in mice.

Cancer immunotherapy has become a clinical reality by virtue of the successes of adoptive T-cell transfer and immune checkpoint blockade. Cancer vaccination may follow in their footsteps, as it should provide the ultimate means of harnessing the power of adaptive immunity for the identification and elimination of malignant cells while mounting long-lived T-cell memory responses that prevent relapse. However, efficacious cancer vaccines have proven elusive. Although subunit (or molecularly defined) vaccines can be assembled to contain the three major vaccine elements — antigen, adjuvant and delivery components — a major roadblock in their optimization is the targeting of antigens to the specific locations of the immune system where immune responses are developed (such as draining lymphatic tissue). Yet, despite clever designs and a multitude of strategies, formulating highly immunogenic antigens remains a hurdle.

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Fig. 1: Optimized antigen–protein fusion for efficient vaccination.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Pedro Romero & Alena Donda

  2. Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA

    Jeffrey A. Hubbell

Authors
  1. Pedro Romero
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  2. Alena Donda
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  3. Jeffrey A. Hubbell
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pedro Romero.

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Competing interests

P.R. is a member of the scientific advisory board of immatics biotechnologies GmbH. J.A.H. is co-founder of Arrow Immune, Inc., and through his university holds patents in immuno-oncology. The remaining author declares no competing interests.

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Romero, P., Donda, A. & Hubbell, J.A. An optimized antigen–protein fusion. Nat Biomed Eng 4, 583–584 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-020-0572-3

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