Subcutaneous immunotherapy using modified Phl p5a-derived peptides efficiently alleviates allergic asthma in mice

To the Editor,

Allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) is a treatment for allergic airway disease that induces long-term tolerance by repeated allergen injections and induced regulatory T (reg) cells at the expense of Th2 cells. Nonetheless, AIT requires large amounts of allergens that need to be administered over prolonged periods of time and treatment can induce severe side effects. Allergen-derived peptides, encoding the dominant T-cell epitopes, lack the capacity to bind IgE and are a safe alternative. Unfortunately, treatment response to peptide AIT is suboptimal for most allergens. Peptides may have a short half-life after administration and need to be phagocytosed by DCs for presentation to T cells to exert their tolerogenic activity. We have previously designed a novel strategy to increase uptake and presentation of peptides by DCs, while also influencing their tolerogenic phenotype.

Dendritic cells (DCs) express sialic acid-binding Ig-like lectins (siglecs), which function as endocytic receptors. In mice, [...]

In conclusion, the use of sialylated allergen-derived peptides encoding T-cell epitopes is a promising approach toward efficient and safe AIT treatment regimens.