A new helicoid-type sequential oligopeptide carrier (SOCn) for developing potent antigens and immunogens

A new class of sequential oligopeptide carriers (SOCn) for anchoring antige nic/immunogenic peptides has been constructed. The carrier, formed by the r epetitive Lys-Aib-Gly moiety, is designed to display a predetermined 3D str ucture, so that the attached peptides would obtain a defined spatial orient ation. Conformational analysis showed that SOCn, adopt a distorted 3(10)-he lical structure, while the coupled peptides preserve their original 'active ' structure. Coupling to the carrier may also result to the enhancement of one conformer of the anchored peptide. Tt is concluded that the structure o f SOCn offers an optimal presentation of the attached peptides, so that pot ent antigens or immunogens are generated. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. Al l rights reserved.