GD2 peptide mimotope DNA vaccines for anti-neuroblastoma immunotherapy

The tumor-associated antigen disialoganglioside-GD2 is expressed on neuroblastoma and melanoma and is an established target for immunotherapy. Carbohydrates and glycolipids are T cell-independent antigens (TI) and usually evoke a poor immune response in tumor-bearing hosts. In order to overcome T-cell independency, we identified peptides mimicking the structure of glycolipid GD2, i.e. GD2 mimotopes. This was accomplished by biopanning experiments of a phage-display library displaying circular decapeptides (kindly provided by L. Mazziacchelli, Bern, Switzerland) against the human/mouse chimeric anti-GD2 antibody…