Scientific Reports (Oct 2017)

Immune Response of A Novel ATR-AP205-001 Conjugate Anti-hypertensive Vaccine

  • Xiajun Hu,
  • Yihuan Deng,
  • Xiao Chen,
  • Yanzhao Zhou,
  • Hongrong Zhang,
  • Hailang Wu,
  • Shijun Yang,
  • Fen Chen,
  • Zihua Zhou,
  • Min Wang,
  • Zhihua Qiu,
  • Yuhua Liao

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-12996-y
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Abstract We developed a virus-like particle (VLP)-based therapeutic vaccine against angiotensin II receptor type 1, ATR-AP205-001, which could significantly reduce the blood pressure and protect target organs of hypertensive animals. In this study, we focused on the immunological effect and safety of the VLP-based vaccine. By comparing to the depolymerized dimeric vaccine ATR-Dimer-001, we found that ATR-AP205-001 reached subcapsular sinus of lymph node shortly after administration, followed by accumulation on follicle dendritic cells via follicle B cell transportation, while ATR-Dimer-001 vaccine showed no association with FDCs. ATR-AP205-001 vaccine strongly activated dendritic cells, which promoted T cells differentiation to follicular helper T cells. ATR-AP205-001 vaccine induced powerful germinal center reaction, which was translated to a boost of specific antibody production and long-lasting B cell memory, far superior to ATR-Dimer-001 vaccine. Moreover, neither cytotoxic T cells, nor Th1/Th17 cell-mediated inflammation was observed in ATR-AP205-001 vaccine, similar to ATR-Dimer-001 vaccine. We concluded that ATR-AP205-001 vaccine quickly induced potent humoral immunity through collaboration of B cells, follicular dendritic cells and follicular helper T cells, providing an effective and safe intervention for hypertension in the future clinical application.