Scheme 1. Poly-L-glutamic acid (PGA) conjugation.
(A) For conjugation of peptide antigen (Ag), PGA is first functionalized with a pyridyldisulfide moiety followed by conjugation of the Ag to a terminal cysteine residue via a disulfide bond. (B) For conjugation of the imidazoquinoline TLR7/8 agonist IMDQ, aliphatic amine of IMDQ is conjugated to a carboxylic acid moiety of PGA through an amide bond.