Induction of neutralizing antibody responses to hepatitis C virus with synthetic peptide constructs incorporating both antibody and T-helper epitopes

Abstract

We describe a peptide-based strategy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine design that exploits synthetic peptides representing antibody epitopes of the hypervariable region 1 (HVR1) of the E2 glycoprotein and also less variable regions immediately downstream of HVR1. These epitopes were linked to a T-helper (Th) epitope (KLIPNASLIENCTKAEL) derived from the Morbillivirus canine distemper virus. Antibody titres induced by the two vaccine candidates Th-A (E2 amino acid 384-414) and Th-B (E2 amino acid 390-414) were significantly higher than those produced against vaccines lacking the Th epitope (P<0.05). Mice inoculated with the vaccine candidates Th-C (E2 amino acids 412-423) and Th-F (E2 amino..