Suppression of MOG- and PLP-induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis using a novel multivalent bifunctional peptide inhibitor

Previously, bifunctional peptide inhibitors (BPI) with a single antigenic peptide have been shown to suppress experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in an antigen-specific manner. In this study, a multivalent BPI (MVBMOG/PLP) with two antigenic peptides derived from myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG(38-50)) and myelin proteolipid protein (PLP138-151) was evaluated in suppressing MOG(38-50)(-) and PLP139-151-induced EAE. MVBMOG/PLP significantly suppressed both models of EAE even when there was some evidence of epitope spreading in the MOG(38-50)-induced EAE model. In addition, MVBMOG/PLP was found to be more effective than PLP-BPI and MOG-BPI in suppressing MOG(38-50)-induced EAE. Thus, the development of MVB molecules with broader antigenic targets can lead to suppression of epitope spreading in EAE. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.