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Immunology

Peptide vaccines get an OS update

Nature Chemical Biology (2024)Cite this article

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Peptide vaccines use antigenic peptide fragments to induce an immune response but are problematic because of the short half-life of peptides. A study now reports thioamide substitution in the peptide backbone as a strategy to enhance resistance to proteolysis and promote binding to the MHC I complex for T cell activation.

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Fig. 1: Thioamide substitution in the antigen peptide backbone enhances its resistance to proteolysis and can improve binding to the MHC I complex.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Protein Assemblies, Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany

    Martin Zacharias

  2. School of Science, Constructor University, Bremen, Germany

    Sebastian Springer

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  1. Martin Zacharias
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  2. Sebastian Springer
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Correspondence to Martin Zacharias or Sebastian Springer.

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Zacharias, M., Springer, S. Peptide vaccines get an OS update. Nat Chem Biol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-024-01608-2

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