Glycoconjugate Antigen Processing and Immune Response

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Background

Glycoproteins and other glycoconjugates, such as those present on viral envelopes, cancer cell surfaces, and bacterial glycoconjugate vaccines, can serve as potent antigens. Typically, these antigens are processed and presented by professional antigen-presenting cells (APC) to T cells. Interaction of glycoconjugate loaded MHC on B cells with the T-cell receptor as well as the co-receptors with B cells stimulate antigen-specific B-cells and leads to differentiation of B cells to antibody producing plasma cells and memory B cells. How the carbohydrate moieties influence the immune response remains only partially understood. While major progress has been made in the area of processing these important antigens, the details surrounding antigen presentation and generation of cellular and humoral response remain incompletely defined. The overall process appears to be influenced by the size of both the saccharide and non-saccharidic moieties of the presented antigen. Other physicochemical characteristics such as charge, overall composition, configuration and fit into the MHC groove, among other characteristics likely influence the utility of these glycoconjugate derived entities to effectively influence the immune response, both positively and negatively. The relationship between antigen processing, antigen presentation, antigenic masking, and the activation of T helper cells, cytotoxic T cells, B cells, and the generation of memory B-cells and plasma cells remains elusive.

This Research Topic is focused on antigen processing, presentation, and immune response to glycoconjugate antigens and to stimulate the scientific community to submit manuscripts concerning the nature of, such antigens, the MHC and T-cell receptors that accommodate glycoconjugate antigens, the range of structural characteristics recognized for such antigens and how they are processed, the impact of the saccharide location and orientation on the quality of presentation and downstream events and how such qualities may influence successful interactions or mismatch potentially leading to antigenic masking. These and other areas concerning processing and immune response to such antigens are areas in need of further investigation.

Structural databases continue to be populated by antigenic glycoproteins. Antibody databases have expanded in scope and range of target antigens and link structural and other characterization information for ease of access. Powerful and sensitive analytics such as mass spectrometry-based workflows can now characterize antigenic sites and define glycosylation site occupancies, heterogeneities, and glycan subtypes as well as identify antigens loaded on the TCR. These state-of-the-art and other cutting-edge and traditional technologies are poised to increase our understanding of these events, which should allow a deeper understanding of the immune response and lead to a better understanding of these processes and inform vaccine and drug developers to identify relevant targets.

The aim of this Research Topic is to gather recent and novel research in the field of glycoprotein and glycoconjugate antigen processing, presentation, and immune response. We welcome researchers to contribute Original Research, Brief Research Reports, and Review and Mini-Review articles. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:
• Structural analysis of glycopeptide antigens and related compounds at the MHC I and II.
• Glycoconjugate processing in antigen-presenting cells
• Interaction of well-characterized MHC I and MHC II loaded antigens with TCR and the subsequent signaling events leading to activation of T cells.
• Downstream interactions of activated T-helper cells with cognate B-cells
• Chemical and chemoenzymatic synthesis of structurally defined glycoconjugates for study of antigen processing and/or as vaccine candidates.
• Glycoconjugate processing and downstream impact on branches of the immune system

Keywords: Glycopeptide, Glycosylation Vaccine, Virus, Cancer, Antibody, Antigen Presenting Cell, Major Histocompatability Complex

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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