MIT's Belcher Lab Packs More Peptide Antigen Onto M13 Phage Nanofibers, Making Cancer Vaccines Protect Mice Better
MIT Koch Institute researchers displayed tumor antigens on the coat protein of harmless M13 bacteriophage at densities from 6% to 70%, and mice given a 35%-density vaccine carrying the peptide SIINFEKL were much less likely to grow melanoma than mice given a 6% version, they reported in Advanced Healthcare Materials. A higher-density vaccine against the tumor neoantigen ADPGK also protected mice from colon tumors, and the phage DNA acted as its own adjuvant. The tests were preventive and in mice only.