The development of carbohydrate based anti-tumor vaccine is an attractive approach towards tumor prevention and treatment. Herein, we focused on the GM2 tumor associated carbohydrate antigen (TACA), which was overexpressed on a wide range of tumor cells. GM2 was synthesized chemically and conjugated with a virus like particle derived from bacteriophage Q. While the copper catalyzed azide-alkyne
ChemBioChem 10.1002/cbic.201500499
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cycloaddition reaction efficiently introduced 237 copies of GM2 per Q, this construct failed to induce significant amounts of anti-GM2 antibodies compared to Q control. In contrast, GM2 immobilized on Q through a thiourea linker elicited high titers of IgG antibodies, which recognized GM2 positive tumor cells and effectively induced cell lysis through complement-mediated cytotoxicity. Thus, bacteriophage Q is a suitable platform to boost the antibody responses towards GM2, a representative member of an important class of TACA, i.e., the ganglioside.
Keywords: Antibodies, Carbohydrates, Immunology, Synthesis, Vaccines