Overlapping Peptide Antigens for Carrier-Free Antibody Production
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Solution Overview
Problem
Low molecular weight peptides are rapidly degraded by serum proteases and lack the ability to induce antibodies on their own, necessitating chemical conjugation to carrier proteins for immunogenicity, which can cause side effects and increase production costs.
Innovation Solution
Synthesis of partial peptides from target proteins that induce antibodies without carrier proteins by overlapping peptides to cover the entire protein sequence, immunizing non-human mammals, and identifying peptides with high antibody-inducing ability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If low molecular weight peptides are used as antigens, then antibody induction is achieved, but the peptides are rapidly degraded by serum proteases and lack immunogenicity on their own
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple peptide fragments into a mixed peptide composition that collectively covers the entire protein sequence. This merging approach allows the individual unstable peptide fragments to function together as a stable immunogenic unit, where the mixture provides comprehensive antigenic coverage without requiring each individual peptide to be stable on its own.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the target protein into multiple overlapping peptide fragments (5-30 amino acid residues) that cover the entire protein sequence. This segmentation allows the immune system to recognize and respond to multiple epitopes distributed throughout the protein, achieving comprehensive antibody induction while using smaller, more synthesizable peptide units.
2Reliability
If carrier proteins are used to enhance peptide immunogenicity, then antibody induction is improved, but side effects and production costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the need for carrier proteins from the immunization formulation. By using a mixed peptide composition that inherently provides sufficient immunogenicity through comprehensive coverage of the target protein, the patent removes the harmful carrier protein component while maintaining effective antibody induction.
Solution Approach 2:
The mixed peptide composition serves its own immunogenic function without requiring external carrier proteins. The peptides themselves, when presented as a comprehensive mixture covering the entire protein sequence, provide sufficient T-cell and B-cell stimulation to induce antibodies, making the system self-sufficient and eliminating dependence on carrier proteins.
3Reliability
If whole protein or recombinant proteins are used for immunization, then comprehensive antibody response is achieved, but production time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the whole protein into multiple smaller peptide fragments (5-30 amino acid residues) that can be synthesized chemically. This segmentation allows parallel production of multiple peptide fragments simultaneously, significantly reducing production time compared to producing and purifying whole recombinant proteins, while still achieving comprehensive antibody coverage through the mixed peptide composition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the biological production system (recombinant protein expression in cells, followed by purification) with a chemical synthesis system. Chemical peptide synthesis allows for rapid, scalable production of multiple peptide fragments without the time-consuming steps of gene cloning, cell culture, and protein purification, thereby reducing production time while maintaining comprehensive antigenic coverage.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention provides Methods for inducing antibodies against target proteins by using a peptide as an antigen. The invention relates to a method for preparing a partial peptide within a target protein, which induces an antibody specific to the target protein, which comprises: 1) providing a plurality of partial peptides of 5-30 amino acid residues, 2) making a mixture containing the partial peptides obtained, 3) immunizing non-human mammals by use of the obtained mixture, 4) determining whether the mixture induces any antibody specific to the target protein by the immunization; and 5) identifying the partial peptide that induces the specific antibody from the mixture that has been determined to induce the antibody.