A new generation of no-side-effects vaccines is being prepared
Date: 24 October 2011; Head: Science; Author: Petya Minkova
Our scientists in cooperation with their colleagues from all over the world are looking for new generation vaccines, the so called peptide vaccines, which do not have the side effects of the existing vaccines.
They will successfully prevent from viral infections, fungal and bacterial diseases and will fight tumors. Peptide vaccines contain only those parts of the foreign protein which are responsible for the identification of the microbe from the human organism. The least the protein component in a vaccine is, the least probable the allergic reactions it may causeare.
Immunologists are fond of saying that human organism may cope with every infection on its own,
as long as it succeeds in identifying the cause. Vaccines train the organism to identify the foreign body. Many of these new peptide vaccines are already in a stage of clinical trials, i.e. they have already been tested on humans.
ADVANTAGE: We are not going to sneeze whole winter, as with existing vaccines.
‘The peptide vaccine is the “most purified” possible vaccine,because of all proteins in the microorganism, the only part to remain in it is the one which provokes the immune response, resultingin the development of the immune memory.
As microorganisms, even the tiniest ones, contain a huge amount of proteins, the information obtained during their protein analysis is enormous and may be recorded only with the help of a powerful computing tool, such as the Bulgarian supercomputer’, Prof. Irina Doychinova of the Pharmaceutical Faculty with the Sofia Medical University says. Together with her team she works on
methods for in silico analysis of immunogenic peptides
‘You have, for instance, a protein, consisting of 100 amino acids and you want to know whether this protein is immunogenic and which particular part of it is immunogenic. In order to find this part, you need to test experimentally all possible peptides, contained in it. Upon a peptide length consisting of 9 amino acids, this means that you have to test 92 peptides. If, however, you use an in silico immunogenicity assay you will select about 10 peptides and will test only them. The probability to find the immunogenic peptide varies between 70% and 90%.’
TEAM: Prof. Irina Doychinova and her colleagues develop new methods.
The experimental work is thus practically reduced several times. Expenses for raw materials, animal tests, labor and time are also reduced’, Prof. Doychinova says.
All new medicines are produced on the grounds of this principle.
A series of antitumor peptide vaccines are also in an advanced stage, including vaccines against cancer of the pancreas, the liver and the prostate gland. The principle of the antitumor vaccine is to train the immune system to identify proteins which are produced in the cancer cells only. The immune system identifies the cancer cell and destroys it.
Sanofi uses our scientists’ program
The immunogenic peptide in silico analysis methods, we have been developing at the MedicalUniversity, require experimental validation.
EXPERTS: Our scientists’ programs are used all over the world
‘We work in close cooperation with foreign laboratories which test what we predict. The best confirmation for our work is the experiment’, scientists say.
‘One of the software programs for immunogenicity prediction, we elaborated, has been incorporated in Sanofi’s scientific research centre, near Paris. We took part in project with British scientists on the identification of a peptide section with immunogenic properties, originating from the proteome of the AIDS virus. We are now applying under a European program in cooperation with an Italian university, a Spanish company, and British scientists for a project aimed at the development of tuberculosis biomarkers.”, Prof. Doychinova says.
‘Our peptides in silico analysis programs are freely available on the Internet, and are used by scientists worldwide. We are now working on joint projects with the University of Pretoria, South Africa and with a Spanish foundation, which has been developing vaccine against pork flu’, Dr. Mariyana Atanasova of the Medical University adds.
Allergens are identified in silico
‘An allergen in silico identification method has been developed, similarly to the immunogenic peptides in silico analysis methods’, Dr. Ivan Dimitrov of the Pharmaceutical Faculty with the MedicalUniversitytells.
‘A basic requirement for the protein drugs is that they should not express allergenicity. The allergenicity screening is obligatory yet in the experimental stage of the medicine production. The method we created identifies allergens with 86% precision’, Dr. Dimitrov says.