Targeted Delivery of Vaccine to Dendritic Cells by Chitosan Nanoparticles Conjugated with a Targeting Peptide Ligand Selected by Phage Display Technique

The paper presents a novel dendritic cells (DC)‐targeting peptide, TPAFRYS (TP) identified by phage display technique and conjugated to chitosan in order to develop an efficient DC‐targeting vaccine delivery carrier. TP‐conjugated chitosan nanoparticles (TPC‐NPs) were prepared with ovalbumin (OVA) as a model vaccine by ionic gelation. Flow cytometry and immunocytochemistry studies demonstrated the higher targeting ability of TPC‐NPs to DCs in compared to chitosan NPs. Moreover, TPC‐NPs exhibited higher targeting specificity in DCs than macrophage and myoblasts. Furthermore, immunization of mice with OVA‐loaded TPC‐NPs enhanced OVA‐specific serum IgG and IgG isotype antibodies production. Thus, DC‐targeting strategy demonstrates a potential approach to enhance the effectiveness of vaccines. Delivering antigen to dendritic cells (DCs) is a promising strategy for enhancing vaccine efficacy. A novel DC‐targeting peptide ligand is isolated by phage display technique. DC‐targeting peptide conjugated chitosan nanoparticles (TPC‐NPs) are designed and evaluated for their targeting efficiency to DCs. Furthermore, immunization of mice with antigen‐carrying TPC‐NPs induces strong and balanced immune responses, demonstrating that TPC‐NPs can further improve the immunogenicity of vaccine.