Carbohydrate-based Vaccines

Book excerpt: This book is the first of its kind entirely dedicated to carbohydrate vaccines written by renowned scientists with expertise in carbohydrate chemistry and immunochemistry. It covers the synthesis of carbohydrate antigens related to bacteria and parasites such as: Heamophilus influenza, Streptococcus pnemoniae, Shigella flexneri, Candida albicans, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and Chlamydia. The first three chapters are of wide interest as they cover fundamental concerns in new vaccine developments. The first one presents the immune system and how carbohydrate antigens are processed before protective antibodies are produced. It also illustrates antigen presentation in the context of major histocompatibility complexes (MHCs). The second chapter describes regulatory issues when carbohydrate vaccines are involved while the third one discuss several techniques used in conjugation chemistry and the implication of certain chemical linkages that may induce unexpected anti-linker antibodies. This section will be particularly appealing for those involved in drug-conjugate design, pro-drug developments, and drug vectorization. The book concludes with one chapter that illustrates the principle through which peptide antigens can functionally mimic carbohydrate epitopes, thus, unraveling the potential for peptide surrogates as replacement for complex carbohydrate structures. This book is unique in that it covers all aspects related to carbohydrate vaccines including the success story with the first semi-synthetic bacterial polysaccharide vaccine against Heamophilus influenza type b responsible for pneumonia and meningitis, liable for more than 600,000 infant deaths worldwide in developing countries. The book also presents regulatory issues and will thus be vital for government agencies approving candidate vaccines. It widely covers synthetic methodologies for the attachment of carbohydrate antigens to peptides and immunogenic protein carriers. Vaccines against bacterial antigens, cancer, and parasites are also discussed by worldwide experts in this field in details. No other book contains such a wide panel of different expertise. It will also be useful to students and researchers involved with the immunology of forreings antigens and how the under appreciated carbohydrate antigens are processed by the immune system.