Epitope-targeting platform for broadly protective influenza vaccines.

Seasonal influenza vaccines are often ineffective because they elicit strain-specific antibody responses to mutation-prone sites on the hemagglutinin (HA) head. Vaccines that provide long-lasting immunity to conserved epitopes are needed. Recently, we reported a nanoparticle-based vaccine platform produced by solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) for targeting linear and helical protein-based epitopes.

Epitope targeting with self-assembled peptide vaccines.

Nanoparticle-based delivery systems are being used to simplify and accelerate new vaccine development. Previously, we described the solid-phase synthesis of a 61-amino acid conjugate vaccine carrier comprising a α-helical domain followed by two universal T cell epitopes. Circular dichroism, analytical centrifugation, and dynamic light scattering indicate that this carrier forms coiled-coil nanoparticles.

Optimization of a multivalent peptide vaccine for nicotine addiction.

We have been optimizing the design of a conjugate vaccine for nicotine addiction that employs a peptide-based hapten carrier. This peptide, which is produced by solid-phase protein synthesis, contains B cell and T cell epitope domains and eliminates the non-relevant, but highly immunogenic sequences in microbial carriers. In this report, the amino acid sequences in the T cell domain were optimized for improved vaccine activity and multivalent formulations containing structurally distinct haptens were tested for the induction of additive antibody responses.

Construction of an enantiopure bivalent nicotine vaccine using synthetic peptides.

Clinical outcomes of anti-nicotine vaccines may be improved through enhancements in serum antibody affinity and concentration. Two strategies were explored to improve vaccine efficacy in outbred mice: the use of enantiopure haptens and formulation of a bivalent vaccine. Vaccines incorporating natural (-) nicotine haptens improved relative antibody affinities >10-fold over (+) haptens, stimulated a two-fold boost in nicotine serum binding capacity, and following injection with 3 cigarette equivalents of nicotine, prevented a larger proportion of nicotine (>85%) from reaching the brain.

Flexible and twistable non-volatile memory cell array with all-organic one diode-one resistor architecture.

Flexible organic memory devices are one of the integral components for future flexible organic electronics. However, high-density all-organic memory cell arrays on malleable substrates without cross-talk have not been demonstrated because of difficulties in their fabrication and relatively poor performances to date. Here we demonstrate the first flexible all-organic 64-bit memory cell array possessing one diode-one resistor architectures.