Waleed M. Hussein
University of Queensland, Australia
Biography
Peptide-based vaccines: Dr. Hussein focus on the development of peptide-based vaccines against infectious diseases and cancer. This includes (1) synthesis of adjuvanting moieties for stimulation of immune system; (2) applying different methods for conjugation of peptides and lipids; (3) determination of the size, shape and charge of the self-assembled vaccine particles; (4) investigate the biological efficiency of vaccines in both in vitro and in vivo. Gene delivery: Currently, Dr. Hussein is working on the development of targeted nanoparticle delivery system to deliver the siRNA to cytoplasm. This delivery system includes peptide-based, micelles and/or liposome formulations
Abstract
Conjugation of multiple peptides by their N-termini is a promising technique to produce branched multiantigenic vaccines. We established a double conjugation strategy that combines a mercapto-acryloyl Michael addition and a copper-catalysed alkyne-azide 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition (CuAAC) reaction to synthesise self-adjuvanting branched multiantigenic vaccine candidates. These vaccine candidates aim to treat cervical cancer and include two HPV-16 derived epitopes and a novel self-adjuvanting moiety. This is the first report of mercapto-acryloyl conjugation applied to the hetero conjugation of two unprotected peptides by their N-termini followed by a CuAAC reaction to conjugate a novel synthetic lipoalkyne self-adjuvanting moiety. In vivo experiments showed that the most promising vaccine candidate completely eradicated tumours in 46% of the mice (6 out of 13 mice).