Projekt
Sugar-coating of vaccines against parasitic worms
Periodic expulsion of parasitic worms from people and livestock animals leads to the alarming development of resistance to anthelmintics. Medical and veterinary experts therefore try to develop vaccines, but these efforts have been ineffective against most worm infections. This project aims to rebuilt natural sugar decorations on worm antigens, a key bottleneck in current vaccine development.
Background
Parasitic worms (helminths) infect over 1.5 billion people and continuously threaten livestock worldwide. Chronic helminth infections may cause serious health problems ranging from malnutrition to severe tissue damage. Control of helminths currently relies on periodic mass administration of anthelmintic drugs. Drug treatment only suppresses infection levels and re-infection occurs easily. Furthermore, resistance against anthelmintic drugs is rapidly emerging and spreading in parasites of livestock. This urges the need for alternative control measures. The most effective and durable way to prevent helminth infections is vaccination. Vaccination with antigens isolated from live parasitic worms has proven to be successful but is unsustainable for large-scale application as it relies on infected host animals as a source of vaccines.
Project description
The development of successful recombinant helminth vaccines is hampered by the inability to reconstruct natural sugar structures (glycans) of these parasites. Helminth glycans have unique and complex structures, which cannot be synthesized in current biopharmaceutical production systems, like bacteria, yeast or mammalian cells. Within this project we aim to develop a versatile plant production platform for helminth glycoproteins with a tailored glycan composition. In addition, we aim to deliver proof-of-concept that reconstructing native helminth glycans will improve vaccine efficacy against helminths.