A combination vaccine for allergy and rhinovirus infections based on rhinovirus-derived surface protein VP1 and a nonallergenic peptide of the major timothy grass pollen allergen Phl p 1.

Allergens and rhinovirus infections are among the most common elicitors of respiratory diseases. We report the construction of a recombinant combination vaccine for allergy and rhinovirus infections based on rhinovirus-derived VP1, the surface protein which is critically involved in infection of respiratory cells, and a nonallergenic peptide of the major grass pollen allergen Phl p 1. Recombinant hybrid molecules consisting of VP1 and a Phl p 1-derived peptide of 31 aa were expressed in Escherichia coli. The hybrid molecules did not react with IgE Abs from grass pollen allergic patients and lacked allergenic activity when exposed to basophils from allergic patients. Upon immunization of mice and rabbits, the hybrids did not sensitize against Phl p 1 but induced protective IgG Abs that cross-reacted with group 1 allergens from different grass species and blocked allergic patients' IgE reactivity to Phl p 1 as well as Phl p 1-induced basophil degranulation. Moreover, hybrid-induced IgG Abs inhibited rhinovirus infection of cultured human epithelial cells. The principle of fusing nonallergenic allergen-derived peptides onto viral carrier proteins may be used for the engineering of safe allergy vaccines which also protect against viral infections.