Abstract Draft

Randomly self-assembling copolymers have repeatedly demonstrated great promise toward eliciting therapeutic immune responses, and specifically for autoimmune diseases. However, their mechanisms of action are not yet fully understood. Many factors such as pH and temperature can affect the nature of the self-assembly of copolymers thus influencing immunogenicity. We tested the hypothesis that factors such as pH and temperature can be manipulated to optimize the self-assembly of copolymers thus eliciting a more desirable immune response through shifting the nature of the T-cell response. This was implemented by analyzing the effect of pH, temperature, and sonication on the stability of the copolymers dissolved in solution. According to our results, increasing heat and pH were the most effective methods to optimize the formation of fibers. We next plan to use these copolymer solutions to vaccinate mice and use methods like ELISA to analyze the nature of their immune responses. This will help us gain a better understanding of the ideal steps to be taken to increase the solubility of these copolymers while simultaneously optimizing their immunomodulatory actions. Through exploring different methods to increase the solubility of copolymers in solution, we can work to better understand how to optimize the immunogenicity of copolymers in vaccinations.