TY - JOUR
T1 - Immunogenicity and contraceptive potential of a human zona pellucida 3 peptide vaccine
AU - Bagavant, Harini
AU - Fusi, Francesco M.
AU - Baisch, Jeanine
AU - Kurth, Barbara
AU - David, Chella S.
AU - Tung, Kenneth S.K.
PY - 1997/3
Y1 - 1997/3
N2 - Immunization with zona pellucida 3 (ZP3) glycoprotein induces infertility in primates and is a target antigen for a contraceptive vaccine. However, loss of ovarian function is a long-term side effect. A possible mechanism is autoimmune ovarian disease induced by ZP3-specific autoreactive T cells, demonstrated in mice immunized with a murine ZP3 peptide in complete Freund's adjuvant. Indeed, a murine contraceptive vaccine that elicits antibodies to zona pellucida (ZP) without concomitant pathogenic T-cell activation has been achieved by a chimeric peptide (CP) consisting of a native ZP3 B-cell epitope and a foreign helper T-cell peptide. Herein, we evaluate the CP strategy in primate for human ZP3 (hZP3) vaccine development. A CP was constructed that consisted of a known helper T-cell epitope from the malarial circumsporozoite protein and a native B-cell epitope of hZP3. The human CP elicited antibodies to ZP3 in macaques without a measurable T-cell response to the hZP3 peptide. The serum antibodies reacted with macaque and human ZP and significantly inhibited human sperm binding to oocytes in vitro. Moreover, the CP elicited antibodies to human ZP in mice that lack murine major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules but express transgenic human HLA-DR3, -DQ6, or -DQ8 molecules. Therefore, this study 1) provides evidence to support the feasibility of the CP strategy in hZP3 vaccine development and 2) describes a novel approach for evaluating the influence of polymorphic human MHC on vaccine immunogenicity without human immunization.
AB - Immunization with zona pellucida 3 (ZP3) glycoprotein induces infertility in primates and is a target antigen for a contraceptive vaccine. However, loss of ovarian function is a long-term side effect. A possible mechanism is autoimmune ovarian disease induced by ZP3-specific autoreactive T cells, demonstrated in mice immunized with a murine ZP3 peptide in complete Freund's adjuvant. Indeed, a murine contraceptive vaccine that elicits antibodies to zona pellucida (ZP) without concomitant pathogenic T-cell activation has been achieved by a chimeric peptide (CP) consisting of a native ZP3 B-cell epitope and a foreign helper T-cell peptide. Herein, we evaluate the CP strategy in primate for human ZP3 (hZP3) vaccine development. A CP was constructed that consisted of a known helper T-cell epitope from the malarial circumsporozoite protein and a native B-cell epitope of hZP3. The human CP elicited antibodies to ZP3 in macaques without a measurable T-cell response to the hZP3 peptide. The serum antibodies reacted with macaque and human ZP and significantly inhibited human sperm binding to oocytes in vitro. Moreover, the CP elicited antibodies to human ZP in mice that lack murine major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules but express transgenic human HLA-DR3, -DQ6, or -DQ8 molecules. Therefore, this study 1) provides evidence to support the feasibility of the CP strategy in hZP3 vaccine development and 2) describes a novel approach for evaluating the influence of polymorphic human MHC on vaccine immunogenicity without human immunization.
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U2 - 10.1095/biolreprod56.3.764
DO - 10.1095/biolreprod56.3.764
M3 - Article
C2 - 9047023
AN - SCOPUS:0031045375
SN - 0006-3363
VL - 56
SP - 764
EP - 770
JO - Biology of Reproduction
JF - Biology of Reproduction
IS - 3
ER -