Advantages
- Dual Ligand Properties: The compound serves as a ligand that activates innate immune receptors and also functions as a T cell antigen.
- Broad Applicability: The compound is presented by the CD1b, a monomorphic antigen presenting molecule, which allows the glycolipid to activate anyone’s T cells regardless of restricting HLA type.
Technology Overview & Background
BCG is currently the only available vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), but its effectiveness is limited, and it is not widely used in some countries. Moreover, antibiotic treatments raise concerns about the emergence of drug-resistant strains, highlighting the need for vaccines with robust and high efficacy.
Researcher’s group focuses on identifying unknown antigens and functions of unconventional T cells that recognize various lipids and metabolites, in contrast to conventional T cells that recognize peptide antigens. By screening for responses of human T cells to complex Mycobacterium tuberculosis lipids mixture, we identified that the glycolipid compound as an antigen..
The compound is a ligand for the innate immune receptor macrophage-inducible C-type lectin receptor (Mincle) and is known to have adjuvanticity. In addition this, the compound acts as a T-cell antigen, activating CD4+ T cells and inducing the production of anti-mycobacterial effector molecules such as IFN-γ and TNF, as well as cytotoxic molecules like Perforin and Granzyme. This dual functionality positions the compound as a potential lipid vaccine, contributing to the development of next-generation vaccines.
Patent
Applied (Unpublished)
Principal Investigator & Academic Institution
Prof. Sho YAMASAKI (Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University)
Development Stages & Plans
- T cells recognizing this compound are present in the peripheral blood of multiple individuals, and these T cells share a common TCR motif for recognizing this glycolipid.
- T cells recognizing this compound are present in the peripheral blood of healthy individuals without a history of BCG vaccination, and their proportion tends to increase in TB patients.
- Since mice lack CD1b, in vivo evaluation will require experiments using humanized mice, guinea pigs, or non-human primates such as monkeys.
- This compound is a component of complete Freund’s adjuvant, but due to its relatively high solubility, it can also be widely applicable as an adjuvant. Furthermore, as a single compound, it is expected to minimize potential side effects compared to complete Freund’s adjuvant, which is a mixture derived from natural sources.
Expectations
TECH MANAGE CORP. is looking for a pharmaceutical company/start-up that is interested in licensing this invention for commercialization on behalf of the University. We can also arrange a meeting with the PI of this invention. Please feel free to contact us with any requests you may have.
Project.TT-04730