Table 1 Functional immuno-peptides comparison
From: Functional immunopeptides: advancing prevention and therapeutic strategies against animal diseases
Characteristic | Antigenic epitopes | Immune modulation peptides | Antimicrobial peptides | Delivery peptides |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Primary function | Induce specific immune response | Immunostimulant and adjuvant-like effects | Inhibiting or killing microorganisms | Enhance antigen or biomolecule delivery into cells |
Target structure | Linear or conformational | Ligand-conjugated variable | Amphipathic α-helical or β-sheet | Variable |
Specificity | Highly specific to the target pathogens | Highly specific to receptor | Broad-spectrum activity | Highly specific to receptors |
Mechanism of action | Recognized by immune cells | Receptor binding | Variable | Receptor binding or cross-membrane |
Stability | Generally stable | Generally stable | Often short half-life | Generally stable |
Immunogenicity | High (by design) | Moderate to high | Variable | Low to moderate |
Application in vaccines | Direct target (vaccine design) | Vaccine adjuvant | Potential antimicrobial vaccines | Enhance vaccine efficacy and the potential as the delivery vehicle for vaccines |
Customization source | Epitopes from pathogens | Ligands to PRRs | Ligands to microbial functional targets | Ligands to APC or cargo receptors |
Delivery efficiency | - | Variable (depend on design) | Variable (depend on formulation) | Improve antigen delivery and penetration to APC |
Toxicity concerns | Low | Low | Potential toxicity to host cells | Low |