Lipid-core-peptide system for self-adjuvanting synthetic vaccine delivery.

Disadvantages of classical vaccines, such as the risk of an autoimmune reaction, might be overcome by using a subunit vaccine containing the minimal microbial components necessary to stimulate appropriate immune responses. However, vaccines based on minimal epitopes suffer from poor immunogenicity and require the use of an additional immunostimulant (adjuvant). Only a few adjuvants have been permitted for use with vaccines intended for human administration. We have developed several vaccine candidates based on a lipid-core-peptide (LCP) system. This system has self-adjuvanting properties, and it can be used for the delivery of a variety of epitopes to produce vaccine candidates against a targeted disease. The LCP system is easily assembled by simple stepwise Boc solid-phase peptide synthesis.