Project Title: Development of vaccine prototype for autoimmune diseases caused by chronic inflammation, proof-of-concept study

Project No: lzp-2022/1-0629

Period: 1 January 2023 – 31 December 2025

Project costs: 300 000,00 EUR

Principle Investigator: Dr.biol. Arnis Strods

Summary

The frequency of autoimmune diseases caused by chronic inflammation in the population is 5-10%. It is a group of diseases that share inflammatory pathways and are caused by dysfunction of the innate and adaptive immune systems. The preparations available in therapy are often ineffective, with side effects, intolerance, and they are also expensive. As a major pathway leading to chronic inflammation is the IL-17/IL-23 axis, where IL-23 is a central target molecule for the development of novel therapeutics. The main goal of this project is to develop a prototype IL-23 alfa subunit-targeted therapeutic vaccine for the prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases and to test it in an animal model. To achieve the set goal, a vaccine prototype will be created based on plant VLPs (filamentous, icosahedral), which will contain IL-23A on the surface, as a target antigen for the creation of neutralizing IgG during immunization. Its immunogenicity will be tested in mice by determining anti-IgG titers, Ig classes, avidity, testing in cell cultures, ELISA, WB. The efficacy of the prototype will be tested in mouse diseases models (e.g., psoriasis, colitis or arthritis), monitoring the course of disease development, determining IL- 23 and IL-17 in peripheral blood serum relative to the control group.

Information published 02.01.2023.