Oral Presentation 9th Modern Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis & Its Applications Symposium 2023

Method for preventing cross-contamination in the preparation of synthetic peptides for immunology (96977)

Sarah Draper 1 , Griffan Randle 2 , Daniel Vernon 2 , Yu Cheng Chua 2 , Tim Bilbrough 1 , Benjamin Compton 1 , Lauren Holz 2 3 , Irina Caminschi 2 4 , William Heath 2 3 , Ian F Hermans 5 , Gavin F Painter 1
  1. Ferrier Research Institute, Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand
  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  3. Australian research Council Centre of Excellence in Advanced Molecular Imaging, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  4. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  5. Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, Wellington, New Zealand

Synthetic peptides are used widely in research, including immunology and vaccine development. In particular, peptides can be included as antigens in vaccines or restimulation of T cells in ELISpot experiments. Purification of peptides using automated flash chromatography or HPLC can commonly yield greater than 99% purity, however the use of these columns and glassware for multiple peptides provides an opportunity for cross-contamination. This low-level contamination may not be detected by usual measures such as mass spectrometry but the sensitive nature of the immunological readout can be affected by these impurities. This can lead to identification of false-positives in antigen discovery. Here, we present a cross-contamination-free workflow for the preparation of peptides to be used in glycolipid-peptide conjugate vaccines. This includes single-use consumables for the process from synthesis of the peptide to purification of the final vaccine.