Previously, bifunctional peptide inhibitors (BPI) with a single antigenic peptide have been shown to suppress experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in an antigen-specific manner. In this study, a multivalent BPI (MVBMOG/PLP) with two antigenic peptides derived from myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG38-50) and myelin proteolipid protein (PLP139-151) was evaluated in suppressing MOG38-50- and PLP139-151-induced EAE. MVBMOG/PLP significantly suppressed both models of EAE even when there was some evidence of epitope spreading in the MOG38-50-induced EAE model. In addition, MVBMOG/PLP was found to be more effective than PLP-BPI and MOG-BPI in suppressing MOG38-50-induced EAE. Thus, the development of MVB molecules with broader antigenic targets can lead to suppression of epitope spreading in EAE.
Keywords: Antigen-presenting cell; BPI; Bifunctional peptide inhibitor; EAE; Epitope spreading; Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis; MOG; MVB; PLP; T cell; bifunctional peptide inhibitor; experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis; multivalent BPI; myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein; proteolipid protein.
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