Epitope-Specific Anti-hCG Vaccines on a Virus Like Particle Platform |
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| Authors: | Jerri Caldeira Jeremiah Bustos Julianne Peabody Bryce Chackerian David S Peabody |
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| Institution: | Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, United States of America.; Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center with the Rockefeller University, UNITED STATES, |
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| Abstract: | The possibility of a contraceptive vaccine targeting human chorionic gonadotropin has long been recognized, but never fully realized. Here we describe an epitope-specific approach based on immunogenic display of hCG-derived peptides on virus-like particles of RNA bacteriophage. A number of recombinant VLPs were constructed, each displaying a different hCG-derived peptide. Some were taken from the disordered C-terminal tail of the hormone, another came from an internal loop, and yet another was an epitope mimic produced by affinity-selection on an hCG-neutralizing antibody target. Immunization of mice with some VLPs yielded antisera that bound the hormone and neutralized hCG biological activity. |
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