NOVEL ADJUVANTS FOR HIV-PEPTIDE VACCINES

This research program is a collaboration between a team of academic scientists who have developed an innovative HIV vaccine strategy, and a biotechnology company based upon a unique delivery vehicle, cochleates, that facilitates the oral delivery of drugs, antigens, and genes. The long term objective is to develop a unique, safe and effective prophylactic/therapeutic HIV subunit vaccine with the following advantageous characteristics: i- orally administered; ii- stable at room temperature; iiiinduces protective, HIV-specific, cell mediated immunity; iv- induces systemic and mucosal immune responses; and v- is inexpensive. The hypothesis upon which this SBIR Phase I research proposal is based is that oral administration of cochleate formulations containing a cocktail of synthetic HIV peptides will induce systemic helper and cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses in a mouse model. This hypothesis will be tested by performing the following specific aims: Aim 1: To determine which form of the synthetic peptides, plain or lipid tailed, induce the strongest CMI. Aim 2: To determine which structure of the delivery vehicle, liposome or cochleate, induces the strongest CMI. Aim 3: To determine the immunopotentiating effects of the SDE adjuvant/immunomodulator with these peptides. Aim 4: To characterize the immunogenicity of oral administration of the peptide-cochleate vaccine formulation. The overall study design will be to prepare the various peptide-adjuvant-delivery vehicle formulations, administer them to BALB/c mice, and assay for proliferative and cytolytic T cell responses.