| abstract |
Methods and materials involved in the development of peptide-based cytokine vaccines for treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases are herein described. These cytokines include tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFα ), interferon gamma (IFNϜ ), interleukin (IL) 1, 2, 6, 10, 12, 15, 18 and their receptors. In the invention, using TNFα as an example, the selected TNFα peptide is fused to a carrier protein, hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg), forming a fusion protein - chimeric HBcAg - that is presented as virus-like particles. Administration of the vaccine without adjuvant induces high titers of autoantibodies, which neutralize self-TNFα that is increased in a number of diseases. |