# Designing a mimotope-based vaccine for peanut allergy

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2020 · $233,250

## Abstract

Project Summary
IgE-mediated peanut allergy is one of the most serious food allergies. There is no
approved curative therapy for peanut allergy. Allergen specific immunotherapy (AIT) is
the only disease-modifying treatment for peanut allergy, but the treatment can cause
severe side effects. AIT based on natural allergen extracts or recombinant allergens is
able to cross-link mast cell- or basophil-bound IgE/FcεR1complexes and contains
allergen specific T-cell epitopes and thus can induce both immediate and late-phase
side effects. A new approach, B-cell epitope based vaccine contains allergen-specific
peptides, which do not have allergenic activity (ability to cross-link mast cell- or basophil-
bond IgE/FCεR1complex) themselves and lack allergen-specific T cell epitopes and
therefore, is safer than vaccines that are based on natural allergen extracts or
recombinant allergens. In this study, we propose to design B-cell epitope based
vaccines that contain carefully-selected, novel specific mimotopes . In Aim 1, we will
design, express, purify and characterize mimotope-based fusion proteins. In Aim 2, we
will perform vaccination with mimotope-based fusion proteins and test the efficacy of
these mimotope-based vaccines in a well-established mouse model and a humanized
mouse model of peanut allergy. The overall goal of this research is to design a new
mimotope-based vaccine feasible for the treatment of existing peanut allergy.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9828060
- **Project number:** 5R21AI137881-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Xueni Chen
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $233,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-11-23 → 2021-10-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9828060

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9828060, Designing a mimotope-based vaccine for peanut allergy (5R21AI137881-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9828060. Licensed CC0.

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