Study of immunogenic properties of albeferon, biologically active de novo protein

We studied the immunogenic properties of albeferon, the biologically active de novo protein designed on the basis of albebetin (de novo protein with p reassigned structure) and the octapeptide fragment of human interferon alph a(2) (Dolgikh et al., Protein Engng., 1996, vol. 9, pp. 195-201). Rabbit an tibodies were produced against a fusion (about 50 kDa) of albeferon with th e maltose-binding protein. The antibodies did not interact with albeferon, whereas they strongly interacted both with maltose-binding protein and the fusion protein. This fact testifies that albeferon, as well as albebetin pl aying the part of a scaffold for the active interferon fragment, has low im munogenicity. The results show that de novo proteins with preassigned struc ture can be constructed according to simple structural principles, and that such proteins can serve as convenient carriers of biological activities in the cases when low immunogenicity of active constructs is prerequisite.