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Bakshi S, Sanz Garcia R, Van der Weken H, Tharad A, Pandey S, Juarez P, Virdi V, Devriendt B, Cox E, Depicker A. Evaluating single-domain antibodies as carriers for targeted vaccine delivery to the small intestinal epithelium. J Control Release 2020; 321:416-429. [PMID: 31981657 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.01.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2019] [Revised: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Targeting a vaccine to the mucosal surface has recently been recognized as a promising approach to efficiently induce mucosal immune responses against enteric pathogens. However, poor uptake and inefficient transport of orally delivered subunit vaccines across the intestinal epithelium combined with weak immune responses still present important bottlenecks for mucosal vaccination. A possible strategy suggested to surmount these hurdles is to target the selected antigen to transcytotic receptors, such as aminopeptidase N (APN) present on enterocytes and antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Therefore, we aimed to identify potent and selective VHHs against porcine aminopeptidase N (pAPN), that were fused to the fragment crystallizable (Fc) domain of the murine IgG2a, resulting in dimeric VHH-MG fusions. Out of a library of 30 VHH-MG fusion candidates, two fusions displaying the best binding on pAPN-expressing cells were selected and showed in vivo internalization across the porcine gut epithelium. One of these fusions triggered systemic and intestinal IgA responses upon oral administration. Our results demonstrate the potential of bivalent VHH-MG fusions as delivery vehicles for vaccine antigens. VHH-mediated targeting of antigens to APN to generate protective immunity at the mucosal surface remains to be further validated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shruti Bakshi
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Gent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Gent, Belgium
| | - Raquel Sanz Garcia
- Laboratory of Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
| | - Hans Van der Weken
- Laboratory of Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
| | - Ashuwini Tharad
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Gent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Gent, Belgium
| | - Shubham Pandey
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Gent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Gent, Belgium
| | - Paloma Juarez
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Gent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Gent, Belgium
| | - Vikram Virdi
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Gent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Gent, Belgium
| | - Bert Devriendt
- Laboratory of Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
| | - Eric Cox
- Laboratory of Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
| | - Ann Depicker
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Gent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, 9052 Gent, Belgium.
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