Novel polypeptide-comprising biopolymer systems

Covalent bioconjugation between anionic polyelecrolytes and polypeptide antigens chemically synthesized by solid-phase chemistry, were studied in hydrated reversed micelle systems. The epitops of Foot-and-Mouse disease virus VP1 protein (40--60 and 135--160 residues) were used as polypeptide antigens. The polypeptide-comprising Biopolymer Systems were obtained by two methods: 1) Inclusion of peptides into electrostatic polyelectrolyte complexes of polycations with proteins, 2) Inclusion of peptides into Cu(+2)-induced polyelectrolyte complexes of polyanions with similarly (anionic) charged proteins. The immunogenetic properties of polymer-peptide conjugates and peptide-comprising Biopolymer Systems were investigated and the specificity of antibodies produced was analyzed. Polymer-Peptide conjugates, as well as peptide-comprising Biopolymer Systems appeared to possess a high peptide specific immunogenecity even without the addition of traditional adjuvants. It was found that PE-BSA.FMD.Ag conjugates conferred effective immunoprotection against Foot-and-Mouth disease virus.