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Pifferi C, Aguinagalde L, Ruiz-de-Angulo A, Sacristán N, Baschirotto PT, Poveda A, Jiménez-Barbero J, Anguita J, Fernández-Tejada A. Development of synthetic, self-adjuvanting, and self-assembling anticancer vaccines based on a minimal saponin adjuvant and the tumor-associated MUC1 antigen. Chem Sci 2023; 14:3501-3513. [PMID: 37006677 PMCID: PMC10055764 DOI: 10.1039/d2sc05639a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 03/01/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The overexpression of aberrantly glycosylated tumor-associated mucin-1 (TA-MUC1) in human cancers makes it a major target for the development of anticancer vaccines derived from synthetic MUC1-(glyco)peptide antigens. However, glycopeptide-based subunit vaccines are weakly immunogenic, requiring adjuvants and/or additional immunopotentiating approaches to generate optimal immune responses. Among these strategies, unimolecular self-adjuvanting vaccine constructs that do not need coadministration of adjuvants or conjugation to carrier proteins emerge as a promising but still underexploited approach. Herein, we report the design, synthesis, immune-evaluation in mice, and NMR studies of new, self-adjuvanting and self-assembling vaccines based on our QS-21-derived minimal adjuvant platform covalently linked to TA-MUC1-(glyco)peptide antigens and a peptide helper T-cell epitope. We have developed a modular, chemoselective strategy that harnesses two distal attachment points on the saponin adjuvant to conjugate the respective components in unprotected form and high yields via orthogonal ligations. In mice, only tri-component candidates but not unconjugated or di-component combinations induced significant TA-MUC1-specific IgG antibodies able to recognize the TA-MUC1 on cancer cells. NMR studies revealed the formation of self-assembled aggregates, in which the more hydrophilic TA-MUC1 moiety gets exposed to the solvent, favoring B-cell recognition. While dilution of the di-component saponin-(Tn)MUC1 constructs resulted in partial aggregate disruption, this was not observed for the more stably-organized tri-component candidates. This higher structural stability in solution correlates with their increased immunogenicity and suggests a longer half-life of the construct in physiological media, which together with the enhanced antigen multivalent presentation enabled by the particulate self-assembly, points to this self-adjuvanting tri-component vaccine as a promising synthetic candidate for further development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlo Pifferi
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC BioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Biscay Technology Park, Building 801A 48160 Derio Spain
| | - Leire Aguinagalde
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC BioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Biscay Technology Park, Building 801A 48160 Derio Spain
| | - Ane Ruiz-de-Angulo
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC BioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Biscay Technology Park, Building 801A 48160 Derio Spain
| | - Nagore Sacristán
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC BioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Biscay Technology Park, Building 801A 48160 Derio Spain
| | - Priscila Tonon Baschirotto
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC BioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Biscay Technology Park, Building 801A 48160 Derio Spain
| | - Ana Poveda
- Chemical Glycobiology Laboratory, CIC BioGUNE, BRTA Spain
| | - Jesús Jiménez-Barbero
- Chemical Glycobiology Laboratory, CIC BioGUNE, BRTA Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science Maria Diaz de Haro 13 48009 Bilbao Spain
- Department of Organic Chemistry II, Faculty of Science & Technology, University of the Basque Country 48940 Leioa Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias Av. Monforte de Lemos, 3-5 28029 Madrid Spain
| | - Juan Anguita
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science Maria Diaz de Haro 13 48009 Bilbao Spain
- Inflammation and Macrophage Plasticity Laboratory, CIC BioGUNE, BRTA Spain
| | - Alberto Fernández-Tejada
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC BioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) Biscay Technology Park, Building 801A 48160 Derio Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science Maria Diaz de Haro 13 48009 Bilbao Spain
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Fuentes R, Aguinagalde L, Pifferi C, Plata A, Sacristán N, Castellana D, Anguita J, Fernández-Tejada A. Novel Oxime-Derivatized Synthetic Triterpene Glycosides as Potent Saponin Vaccine Adjuvants. Front Immunol 2022; 13:865507. [PMID: 35603193 PMCID: PMC9121768 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.865507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2022] [Accepted: 04/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Vaccine adjuvants are key for optimal vaccine efficacy, increasing the immunogenicity of the antigen and potentiating the immune response. Saponin adjuvants such as the carbohydrate-based QS-21 natural product are among the most promising candidates in vaccine formulations, but suffer from inherent drawbacks that have hampered their use and approval as stand-alone adjuvants. Despite the recent development of synthetic derivatives with improved properties, their full potential has not yet been reached, allowing the prospect of discovering further optimized saponin variants with higher potency. Herein, we have designed, chemically synthesized, and immunologically evaluated novel oxime-derivatized saponin adjuvants with targeted structural modifications at key triterpene functionalities. The resulting analogues have revealed important findings into saponin structure-activity relationships, including adjuvant mechanistic insights, and have shown superior adjuvant activity in terms of significantly increased antibody response augmentation compared to our previous saponin leads. These newly identified saponin oximes emerge as highly promising synthetic adjuvants for further preclinical development towards potential next generation immunotherapeutics for future vaccine applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Fuentes
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance BRTA, Derio, Spain
| | - Leire Aguinagalde
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance BRTA, Derio, Spain
| | - Carlo Pifferi
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance BRTA, Derio, Spain
| | - Adrián Plata
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance BRTA, Derio, Spain
| | - Nagore Sacristán
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance BRTA, Derio, Spain
| | - Donatello Castellana
- Research and Development, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance BRTA, Derio, Spain
| | - Juan Anguita
- Inflammation and Macrophage Plasticity Laboratory, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance BRTA, Derio, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Alberto Fernández-Tejada
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance BRTA, Derio, Spain
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain
- *Correspondence: Alberto Fernández-Tejada,
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Fuentes R, Aguinagalde L, Sacristán N, Fernández-Tejada A. Design, synthesis, and initial immunological evaluation of glycoconjugates based on saponin adjuvants and the Tn antigen. Chem Commun (Camb) 2021; 57:11382-11385. [PMID: 34647563 PMCID: PMC8552335 DOI: 10.1039/d1cc04459a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2021] [Accepted: 09/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
We report the first synthesis and immunological evaluation of a new glycoconjugate design based on streamlined saponin adjuvants and the Tn carbohydrate antigen. While the novel synthetic constructs induced moderate antibody responses in mice, the versatile chemical platform is amenable to further structure-activity optimizations for the development of self-adjuvanting glycoconjugate cancer vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Fuentes
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160 Derio, Spain.
| | - Leire Aguinagalde
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160 Derio, Spain.
| | - Nagore Sacristán
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160 Derio, Spain.
| | - Alberto Fernández-Tejada
- Chemical Immunology Laboratory, CIC bioGUNE, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), 48160 Derio, Spain.
- Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Euskadi Plaza 5, 48009 Bilbao, Spain
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Fuentes R, Ruiz‐de‐Angulo A, Sacristán N, Navo CD, Jiménez‐Osés G, Anguita J, Fernández‐Tejada A. Replacing the Rhamnose-Xylose Moiety of QS-21 with Simpler Terminal Disaccharide Units Attenuates Adjuvant Activity in Truncated Saponin Variants. Chemistry 2021; 27:4731-4737. [PMID: 33236801 PMCID: PMC7986102 DOI: 10.1002/chem.202004705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Adjuvants are key immunostimulatory components in vaccine formulations, which improve the immune response to the co-administered antigen. The saponin natural product QS-21 is one of the most promising immunoadjuvants in the development of vaccines against cancer and infectious diseases but suffers from limitations that have hampered its widespread human use. Previous structure-activity relationship studies have identified simplified saponin variants with truncated carbohydrate chains, but have not focused on the influence of the linear oligosaccharide domain of QS-21 in adjuvant activity. Herein, an expeditious 15-step synthesis of new linear trisaccharide variants of simplified QS-21-derived adjuvants is reported, in which the complex terminal xylose-rhamnose moiety has been replaced with commercially available, simpler lactose and cellobiose disaccharides in a β-anomeric configuration. In vivo immunological evaluation of the synthetic saponins showed attenuated antibody responses, highlighting the negative impact of such carbohydrate modifications on adjuvant activity, which could be associated with higher saponin conformational flexibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Fuentes
- Chemical Immunology LaboratoryCenter for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE)Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA)Biscay Science and Technology Park, Building 801A48160DerioSpain
| | - Ane Ruiz‐de‐Angulo
- Chemical Immunology LaboratoryCenter for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE)Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA)Biscay Science and Technology Park, Building 801A48160DerioSpain
| | - Nagore Sacristán
- Chemical Immunology LaboratoryCenter for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE)Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA)Biscay Science and Technology Park, Building 801A48160DerioSpain
| | - Claudio Daniel Navo
- Computational Chemistry LaboratoryCenter for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE)Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA)Biscay Science and Technology Park, Building 801A48160DerioSpain
| | - Gonzalo Jiménez‐Osés
- Computational Chemistry LaboratoryCenter for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE)Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA)Biscay Science and Technology Park, Building 801A48160DerioSpain
| | - Juan Anguita
- Inflammation and Macrophage Plasticity LaboratoryCenter for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE)Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA)Biscay Science and Technology Park, Building 801A48160DerioSpain
- IkerbasqueBasque Foundation for SciencePlaza Euskadi 548009BilbaoSpain
| | - Alberto Fernández‐Tejada
- Chemical Immunology LaboratoryCenter for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE)Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA)Biscay Science and Technology Park, Building 801A48160DerioSpain
- IkerbasqueBasque Foundation for SciencePlaza Euskadi 548009BilbaoSpain
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Pifferi C, Ruiz-de-Angulo A, Goyard D, Tiertant C, Sacristán N, Barriales D, Berthet N, Anguita J, Renaudet O, Fernández-Tejada A. Chemical synthesis and immunological evaluation of new generation multivalent anticancer vaccines based on a Tn antigen analogue. Chem Sci 2020; 11:4488-4498. [PMID: 34122907 PMCID: PMC8159477 DOI: 10.1039/d0sc00544d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Tumor associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs), such as the Tn antigen, have emerged as key targets for the development of synthetic anticancer vaccines. However, the induction of potent and functional immune responses has been challenging and, in most cases, unsuccessful. Herein, we report the design, synthesis and immunological evaluation in mice of Tn-based vaccine candidates with multivalent presentation of the Tn antigen (up to 16 copies), both in its native serine-linked display (Tn-Ser) and as an oxime-linked Tn analogue (Tn-oxime). The high valent vaccine prototypes were synthesized through a late-stage convergent assembly (Tn-Ser construct) and a versatile divergent strategy (Tn-oxime analogue), using chemoselective click-type chemistry. The hexadecavalent Tn-oxime construct induced robust, Tn-specific humoral and CD4+/CD8+ cellular responses, with antibodies able to bind the Tn antigen on the MCF7 cancer cell surface. The superior synthetic accessibility and immunological properties of this fully-synthetic vaccine prototype makes it a compelling candidate for further advancement towards safe and effective synthetic anticancer vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlo Pifferi
- Département de Chimie Moléculaire, Université Grenoble Alpes, UMR 5250, CNRS 38000 Grenoble France .,Chemical Immunology Lab, CIC bioGUNE Biscay Science and Technology Park, Building 801A 48160 Derio Spain
| | - Ane Ruiz-de-Angulo
- Chemical Immunology Lab, CIC bioGUNE Biscay Science and Technology Park, Building 801A 48160 Derio Spain
| | - David Goyard
- Département de Chimie Moléculaire, Université Grenoble Alpes, UMR 5250, CNRS 38000 Grenoble France
| | - Claire Tiertant
- Département de Chimie Moléculaire, Université Grenoble Alpes, UMR 5250, CNRS 38000 Grenoble France
| | - Nagore Sacristán
- Chemical Immunology Lab, CIC bioGUNE Biscay Science and Technology Park, Building 801A 48160 Derio Spain
| | - Diego Barriales
- Inflammation and Macrophage Plasticity Lab, CIC bioGUNE Biscay Science and Technology Park, Building 801A 48160 Derio Spain
| | - Nathalie Berthet
- Département de Chimie Moléculaire, Université Grenoble Alpes, UMR 5250, CNRS 38000 Grenoble France
| | - Juan Anguita
- Inflammation and Macrophage Plasticity Lab, CIC bioGUNE Biscay Science and Technology Park, Building 801A 48160 Derio Spain .,Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science Maria Diaz de Haro 13 48009 Bilbao Spain
| | - Olivier Renaudet
- Département de Chimie Moléculaire, Université Grenoble Alpes, UMR 5250, CNRS 38000 Grenoble France
| | - Alberto Fernández-Tejada
- Chemical Immunology Lab, CIC bioGUNE Biscay Science and Technology Park, Building 801A 48160 Derio Spain .,Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science Maria Diaz de Haro 13 48009 Bilbao Spain
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Diezhandino I, Fernández D, Sacristán N, Combarros-Fuertes P, Prieto B, Fresno J. Rheological, textural, colour and sensory characteristics of a Spanish blue cheese (Valdeón cheese). Lebensm Wiss Technol 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lwt.2015.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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González L, Sandoval H, Sacristán N, Castro J, Fresno J, Tornadijo M. Identification of lactic acid bacteria isolated from Genestoso cheese throughout ripening and study of their antimicrobial activity. Food Control 2007. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2006.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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