Carbohydrate-Based Vaccines

Johannssen, Timo, Lepenies, Bernd, Timo Johannssen, Bernd Lepenies

Modern vaccines such as recombinant proteins or nucleic acids are usually of pure origin, enhancing their tolerability and overall safety. However, this purity often renders them less immunogenic, creating the need for potent adjuvants. Carbohydrates are promising candidates to fulfill this role as they enable direct targeting of dendritic cells and modulation of adaptive immunity. C-type lectin receptors (CLRs) comprise a major group of carbohydrate binding receptors. As they are predominantly expressed by cells of innate immunity, CLR targeting can enhance or dampen early stages of cytokine secretion and antigen presentation, thus modulate the activation and differentiation of T cells. Here, we provide a protocol for the identification of novel CLR ligands by glycan array using recombinant CLR-Fc chimeras followed by the covalent conjugation of carbohydrate CLR ligands to the model antigen ovalbumin (OVA). The resulting glycoconjugates are subsequently used to evaluate T cell activation in vitro and immunomodulation in vivo.