Xiu-Jing Zheng

Enhancement of the immunogenicity of synthetic carbohydrate vaccines by chemical modifications of STn antigen.

The abnormal glycans expressed on the surface of tumor cells, known as tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens, increase the chance to develop carbohydrate-based anticancer vaccines. However, carbohydrate antigens pose certain difficulties, and the major drawback is their weak immunogenicity. To tackle this problem, numerous structurally modified STn antigens were designed and synthesized in this work. These synthetic antigens were screened in vitro by using competitive ELISA method, and the antigens with positive response were conjugated to the protein carrier for vaccination. The vaccination results on mice showed that some fluorine-containing modifications on the STn antigen can significantly increase the anti-STn IgG titers and improve the ratios of anti-STn IgG/IgM. The antisera can recognize the tumor cells expressing the native STn antigen.

A Highly α-Stereoselective Synthesis of Oligosaccharide Fragments of the Vi Antigen from Salmonella typhi and Their Antigenic Activities

In this paper, a convenient approach to the synthesis of the repeating α-(1→4)-linked N-acetyl galactosaminuronic acid units from the capsular polysaccharide of Salmonella typhi is reported. The exclusively α-stereoselective glycosylation reactions were achieved by using oxazolidinone-protected glycosides as building blocks based on a pre-activation protocol. Di-, tri-, and tetrasaccharides were prepared by this short and efficient approach in high yields. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay experiments show that our synthetic tri- and tetrasaccharide had much higher antigenic activities than previously reported ones in the inhibition of antibody binding by the native polysaccharide. The results demonstrate that the antigenic activities of saccharides can be strengthened greatly by increasing the number of acetyl groups present.

Synthesis and immunological evaluation of N-acyl modified Tn analogues as anticancer vaccine candidates

Tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs), which are aberrantly expressed on the surface of tumor cells, are important targets for anticancer vaccine development. Herein, several N-acyl modified Tn analogues were synthesized and conjugated with carrier protein CRM197. The immunological results of these glycoconjugates indicated that 6-CRM197 elicited higher titers of antibodies which cross-reacted with native Tn antigen than the unmodified 2-CRM197 did. The IFN-γ-producing frequency of lymphocytes in mice treated with 6-CRM197 was obviously increased, compared to that of mice vaccinated with 2-CRM197 (p=0.016), which was typically associated with the Th1 response. Moreover, the elicited antisera against antigen 6-CRM197 reacted strongly with the Tn-positive tumor cells, implying the potential of this glycoconjugate as an anticancer vaccine.

Broadly Neutralizing Antibody-Guided Carbohydrate-Based HIV Vaccine Design: Challenges and Opportunities

The HIV envelope (Env) is heavily glycosylated, facilitating the spread and survival of HIV in many ways. Some potent broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) such as 2G12, PG9, PG16, and PGTs can recognize the conserved glycan residues on Env. The bnAbs, which often emerge after many years of chronic infection, provide insight into the vulnerability of HIV and can therefore guide the design of vaccines. Many carbohydrate‐conjugated vaccines have been designed to induce bnAb‐like antibodies, but none have yet been successful. The low antigenicity of these vaccines is one possible explanation. New strategies have been applied to obtain high‐affinity antigens of glycan‐dependent and other bnAbs. However, when used as immunogens in vivo, high‐affinity antigens are still insufficient in eliciting bnAb‐like antibodies. bnAbs generally possess some unusual features and may therefore be suppressed by the host immune system. In view of this situation, some immunization regimens based on the affinity maturation of antibodies have been tested. Herein we summarize recent studies into the design of carbohydrate‐based HIV vaccines and some valuable experiences gained in work with other bnAb‐based HIV vaccines.

A cancer vaccine based on fluorine-modified sialyl-Tn induces robust immune responses in a murine model

Development of an effective vaccine to target tumor associated carbohydrate antigens, aberrantly expressed on the cell surface of various carcinomas, is an appealing approach toward cancer immunotherapy. However, a major problem of carbohydrate antigens is their poor immunogenicity. Immunization with modified-carbohydrate antigens could improve the immunogenicity and induce cross reaction with the native carbohydrate antigens. In this study, we investigated the antitumor ability of three fluoro-substituted sialyl-Tn (STn) analogues (2, 3, 4) coupled to KLH (keyhole limpet hemocyanin) and studied the mechanism of tumor immunotherapy of the vaccines in a murine model of colon cancer. Vaccination with 4-KLH, in which the two N-acetyl groups of STn are substituted with N-fluoroacetyl groups, could remarkably prolong the survival of tumor-bearing mouse and resulted in a significant reduction in tumor burden of lungs compared with STn-KLH (1-KLH). The vaccine 4-KLH could provoke stronger cytotoxic T lymphocytes immune response, T helper (Th) cell-mediated immune response and an earlier-stage Th1 immune response than 1-KLH, thus breaking immune tolerance and generating a therapeutic response. The 4-KLH vaccine induced strong tumor-specific anti-STn antibodies which could mediate complement-dependent cytotoxicity and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity against human tumor cells. Moreover, in the absence of adjuvant, 4-KLH still elicited stronger immune responses than 1-KLH. Our data suggested that 4-KLH is superior in tumor prevention. The strategic hapten fluorination may be a potential approach applicable to the vaccines development for the cancer immunotherapy.

Synthesis and Evaluation of Glycoconjugates Comprising N-Acyl-Modified Thomsen-Friedenreich Antigens as Anticancer Vaccines.

Thomsen–Friedenreich (TF) antigen is an important tumor‐associated carbohydrate antigen. Its low immunogenicity, however, limits its application in the development of anticancer vaccines. To solve this problem, several N‐acyl‐modified TF derivatives were synthesized and conjugated with carrier protein CRM197 (a mutated diphtheria toxoid cross‐reactive material). The immunological results in BALB/c mice demonstrated that these modified TF antigen conjugates could stimulate the production of higher titers of IgG antibodies that cross‐reacted with native TF antigen. These glycoconjugates showed strong lymphocyte proliferative response, suggesting that they can induce cellular immunity. Furthermore, the elicited antisera reacted strongly with TF‐positive tumor cells (4T1). In particular, the N‐monofluoroacetyl‐modified TF conjugate 4‐CRM197 showed the strongest complement‐dependent cytotoxicity effect against 4T1 cells, implying the potential of this glycoconjugate as an anticancer vaccine.

Altering the Specificity of the Antibody Response to HIV gp120 with a Glycoconjugate Antigen

Some conserved glycans on the HIV envelope protein are targets of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) of HIV. BnAbs provide a precise definition of broadly neutralizing epitopes on the envelope protein of HIV. These epitopes are promising for vaccine design. Many glycan-related antigens with high affinity to bnAbs have been tested as immunogens in vivo. However, it was found that no bnAb-like antibodies were induced. Vaccination with different immunogens containing the same neutralizing epitope may enhance the affinity maturation of antibodies which focus on the shared epitope. This combined immunization strategy showed great potential in peptide epitope-based vaccine design. However, it has not yet been explored on glycan-related epitopes to date. Herein, we take 2G12 as a model to validate this strategy on glycan-related epitopes. A high-affinity antigen of 2G12 was constructed by conjugating the D1 arm tetramannoside to bovine serum albumin. Then, the glycoconjugate was coimmunized with a recombinant gp120, which was expected to selectively benefit the induction of antibodies recognizing the neutralizing epitope of 2G12 on gp120. Mice were inoculated with the two antigens simultaneously or alternately to determine the suitable regimen for this strategy. The serological assays demonstrated that the antibody titers and subtypes responded to the whole gp120 were not improved, and the proportion of antibodies competitively bound to the 2G12 epitope was not enhanced significantly either. However, the coimmunized glycoconjugate selectively raised the proportion of antibodies recognizing D1 arm tetramannoside-related structures on gp120. These results provide important experience for the design of glycan-dependent bnAb-based vaccines.

Chemical synthesis and biological evaluation of penta- to octa- saccharide fragments of Vi polysaccharide from Salmonella typhi

Vi antigen is the capsular polysaccharide of Salmonella typhi, which can cause typhoid fever. With the increasing threat of antiboitic resistance, vaccination against Salmonella typhi is a preferred way to prevent this disease. Chemical synthesis of fragments of Vi antigen is in urgent need for the development of structure-homogeneous and quality-controlled oligosaccharide vaccines. However, it is extremely challenging to synthesize large oligosaccharide fragments of Vi antigen owing to the exclusive α-1,4-linkage of polyaminogalacturonates. Herein, a series of Vi oligosaccharides ranging from pentamer to octamer were efficiently prepared using 2,3-N,O-oxazolidinone protected glycosides as building blocks based on the preactivation protocol. The heptasaccharide and octasaccharide fragments were synthesized for the first time. The competitive ELISA evaluation suggested that the hexasaccharide might be the minimum epitope of Vi antigen, which provides a significant guidance for the future development of Vi oligosaccharide vaccines.