Protein Capsular Matrix Vaccine (PCMV) Technology
Conjugate vaccines have greatly reduced the incidence of disease in infants and young children caused by encapsulated bacterial pathogens. However, these vaccines are difficult and expensive to manufacture, hindering their widespread use. As a leading biology CRO who has decades of experience in conjugate vaccines, Creative Biolabs is developing an alternative technology for the production of conjugate-like vaccines whereby capsular antigens are entrapped in a cross-linked protein matrix.
Capsular Polysaccharides
The capsular polysaccharide is the major antigenic component involved in protective immunity against encapsulated bacterial pathogens. By chemically coupling to a "carrier protein" antigen, the T cell-independent polysaccharide antigen can be converted to a more efficient immunogen. Such conjugate vaccine effectively induces antibody affinity maturation, isotype switching and immune memory in immunized neonates. These immune responses are due to T cell recognition of peptides derived from the coupled carrier protein. The covalent attachment of a polysaccharide antigen to a carrier protein is considered to be a necessary condition for binding to the immunological properties of the vaccine. The T-independent antigen is converted to a T-dependent immunogen independent of covalent attachment of the carrier protein. Simply capturing the polysaccharide or d-amino acid polymer antigen in the crosslinked protein matrix shows an effective immunogen sufficient to produce key features with conventional conjugate vaccines. The versatility and ease of manufacture of these antigen preparations, known as the protein capsular matrix vaccine (PCMV), will likely improve the manufacture of vaccines for protection against encapsulated microorganisms.
Fig.1 Schematics depicting: (A) a conjugate vaccine with covalent linkages between capsule antigen and protein carrier. (B) a PCMV that entraps capsule antigen within a protein matrix and does not require direct covalent linkage between capsule antigen and protein. (Thanawastien A. 2015)
PCMV Technology
Creative Biolabs has developed the novel protein capsular matrix vaccine (PCMV) process in which the polysaccharide or capsular antigens are entrapped in a cross-linked protein matrix with little or no covalent linkage of the capsular antigen to the protein. We synthesized and tested the immunogenicity of these entrapped capsular antigens protein capsular matrix vaccines and demonstrated that a PCMV made with two different capsular antigens induces an anti-capsular antibody response comparable to that elicited by a cognate conjugate vaccine.
Features
- The capsular antigens are entrapped in a matrix of crosslinked carrier protein rather than direct covalent linkage to the carrier protein.
- Versatility and ease of protein capsular matrix vaccine production.
- Easy for manufacturing.
- More cost effective and efficiently than conjugate vaccines.
Creative Biolabs is actively developing the novel protein capsular matrix vaccine (PCMV) process as an alternative technology for the production of conjugate-like vaccines. We strive with competence and confidence to meet your demand for creating novel conjugates and to promote vaccine development. Contact us now to discuss your conjugate vaccine project!
Reference
- Thanawastien A. (2015). "Conjugate-like immunogens produced as protein capsular matrix vaccines." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 112(10): E1143-51.
All of our products can only be used for research purposes. These vaccine ingredients CANNOT be used directly on humans or animals.
