Hypersensitivity to a contact
allergen is one of the most abundant forms of inflammatory
skin disease. Today, more than 20% of the general population are sensitized to one or more contact
allergens, making this disease an important healthcare issue, as re-exposure to the
allergen can initiate the clinical disease termed
allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). The current standard treatment using
corticosteroids is effective, but it has side effects when used for longer periods. Therefore, there is a need for new
alternative therapies for severe ACD. In this study, we used the versatile Tag/Catcher AP205 capsid virus-like particle (cVLP)
vaccine platform to develop an IL-1β-targeted
vaccine and to assess the immunogenicity and in vivo efficacy of the
vaccine in a translational mouse model of ACD. We show that vaccination with cVLPs displaying full-length murine IL-1β elicits high titers of
neutralizing antibodies, leading to a significant reduction in local IL-1β levels as well as clinical symptoms induced by treatment with
1-Fluoro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (
DNFB). Moreover, we show that a single
amino acid mutation in muIL-1β reduces the biological activity while maintaining the ability to induce
neutralizing antibodies. Collectively, the data suggest that a cVLP-based
vaccine displaying full-length IL-1β represents a promising
vaccine candidate for use as an alternative treatment modality against severe ACD.