Development and applications of filamentous phage-derived particles in immunotherapy and diagnostics : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry at Massey University (Manawatū), New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 16 December 2023.

Abstract

Most vaccines that are currently in clinical use induce antibody-mediated responses. However, for many infectious diseases, T cells are an essential part of naturally acquired protective immune responses. T cell-inducing vaccines, such as the one developed in this research, could additionally be used for treatments in cancer or chronic viral infections. One way to target the immune cells and stimulate their responses is to use filamentous phage particles. Filamentous phages (Ff) are ssDNA viruses that infect Escherichia coli, which have been adapted and used extensively in phage display technology and nanotechnology. In this research, a filamentous phage (Ff)-based vaccine carrier was constructed to allow the tuneable display of non-protein immune adjuvant molecules (BODIPY-α-GalCer) and antigenic peptides (OVA; MHC I + MHC II) on the same particle.--Shortened abstract