(242) PEGylated peptide therapeutics for inducing immunosuppressive cells to treat autoimmune diseases

Bifunctional peptide inhibitors (BPIs) are peptide conjugates that target the immune synapse to inhibit T cell maturation (1). BPIs containing the myelin-specific proteolipid peptide (PLP) have reduced clinical scores (2). However, their short in vivo half-life limits their efficacy. We investigated PEGylated BPIs (PEG-BPIs) composed of the ovalbumin and ICAM-1 binding peptide. PEG-BPIs were modified with 1k, 5k, and 10k molecular weight PEG at two sites: the N-terminus (N-5k, N-10k) and the spacer region (S-1k, S-5k, S-10k), offering a promising strategy for autoimmune disease treatment.