Thi
s study inve
stigated a
strategy by which antibodie
s are di
splayed to engage T cell
s. A peptide compo
site containing binding
site
s wa
s characterized in vitro and explored a
s an injectable
sy
stem in vivo. The compo
site con
si
st
s of two amphiphilic peptide
s, AEAEAKAKAEAEAKAK (referred to a
s “EAK”) and EAK appended with
six con
secutive hi
stidine
s at the C-terminu
s (“EAKH6”). Spectro
scopic analy
si
s showed the two peptide
s integrated into a
single
structure. Prior to combination, conformational analy
si
s revealed that EAKH6 adopt
s a mixed α-helix/β-
strand conformation. In the pre
sence of EAK, EAKH6 exi
st
s predominately in β-
strand conformation. The compo
site of EAK-EAKH6 wa
s found to di
splay Hi
s-tag
s, u
sing nickel-bound hor
seradi
sh peroxida
se a
s a probe. T cell-
specific antibodie
s were found
stably di
splayed on the EAK-EAKH6 a
ssembly u
sing recombinant protein A/G and anti-hi
stidine
s antibody a
s an adaptor. When mounted with anti-CD4 antibody, the
sy
stem wa
s shown to capture CD4 T cell
s in a mixed population of lymphocyte
s. Antibodie
s were concentrated in the
subcutaneou
s space in mice when co-admini
stered with EAK and EAKH6 along with protein A/G and anti-hi
stidine
s antibody a
s a
solution.
We report here the use of amphiphilic peptides to display Ab in vivo, the results indicating that the design can be used as a platform for engaging specific subsets of leukocytes for the purpose of immune modulation.