APC Targeting Units for Enhanced Immunotherapy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cancer therapies and vaccines face limitations in targeting specific cancer antigens and inducing effective immune responses, particularly in addressing neo-antigens and viral antigens like SARS-CoV-2, with existing nucleic acid vaccines struggling to achieve high enough expression levels for satisfactory immune responses.
Innovation Solution
Development of novel fusion polypeptides and nucleic acid molecules that target antigen-presenting cells (APCs), specifically dendritic cells, to enhance immunotherapeutic effects, including the use of multimerization units for increased antigen presentation and cytokine activation, thereby eliciting higher T cell responses and providing effective protective immunity against tumors and infectious agents.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If nucleic acid vaccines are administered to somatic cells, then antigen expression is achieved, but expression levels are insufficient to induce satisfactory immune responses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses antigen-presenting cells (APCs) as intermediary cells to receive the nucleic acid vaccine and produce high levels of antigen, which then present the antigen to T cells. This mediator approach solves the problem of insufficient antigen expression when administering vaccines directly to somatic cells, as APCs are specialized for high-level antigen production and presentation.
Solution Approach 2:
The vaccine is designed to first target and enter APCs before antigen presentation occurs. By preliminarily directing the nucleic acid vaccine to APCs through specific targeting sequences, the system ensures that antigen production occurs in the appropriate cell type that can effectively present antigen to T cells, thereby ensuring satisfactory immune responses.
2Adaptability or versatility
If conventional vaccines target general antigens, then broad coverage is achieved, but specific neo-antigens and patient-specific cancer antigens cannot be addressed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs different targeting sequences on the APC-targeting unit that can be selectively activated or expressed based on the specific application. This allows the same vaccine platform to be adapted for different antigens (neo-antigens, viral antigens, cancer antigens) by simply changing the targeting sequence, thereby achieving both specificity for particular antigens and versatility across different disease types.
3Reliability
If monoclonal antibodies target known cancer antigens, then effective therapy is achieved for those specific antigens, but the vast majority of cancer-specific antigens cannot be addressed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal vaccine platform where the core structure remains the same but can be customized with different antigen-specific components. The APC-targeting unit with selectable targeting sequences serves as a universal delivery system that can accommodate any antigen of interest, making the platform versatile for targeting any cancer-specific antigen, viral antigen, or neo-antigen while maintaining reliable immune response induction.
Data Source
AI summary
Immune therapy and vaccines, such as cancer immunotherapy, or vaccines for infections with microorganisms, such as a bacterial or viral infection. In particular, the present invention relates to methods and products for prophylactic or treating cancer or infections with microorganisms by administration of specific fusion polypeptides or nucleic acids encoding such fusion polypeptides.