We have previously reported that the cytotoxic activity of murine CD8(+) CTLs specific for HIV-1 gp160 envelope protein was markedly inhibited in vitro by brief exposure to a free epitope peptide P18-I10 (aa: RGPGRAFVTI) using the epitope-specific CTL line (LINE-IIIB) or a clone (RT-1). We have also shown that recently stimulated P18-I10-specific murine CTLs rapidly fell into apoptosis in vitro...

background:  cytotoxic t lymphocyte–associated antigen 4 (ctla-4) molecules are expressed on t-cells and inhibit their function by inhibiting activation of subsequent t-cell molecular pathways. blocking of ctla-4 inhibits the growth of malignant tumor cells. anti-ctla-4 monoclonal antibodies activate the immune system against cancer. due to several advantages of single-chain antibodies (scfvs) ...

The purpose of this study was to screen and identify the linear B-cell epitopes of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent membrane protein 2 (LMP2). The secondary structure and surface properties of EBV LMP2A protein were analyzed. In combination with hydrophilicity, accessibility, flexibility, and antigenicity analysis, and average antigenicity index (AI) of epitope peptide investigation, three pepti...

Avian influenza virus (AIV) non-structural protein 1 (NS1) is a multifunctional protein. It is present at high levels in infected cells and can be used for AIV detection and diagnosis. In this study, we generated monoclonal antibody (MAb) D7 against AIV NS1 protein by immunization of BALB/c mice with purified recombinant NS1 protein expressed in Escherichia coli. Isotype determination revealed ...

The possibility of a contraceptive vaccine targeting human chorionic gonadotropin has long been recognized, but never fully realized. Here we describe an epitope-specific approach based on immunogenic display of hCG-derived peptides on virus-like particles of RNA bacteriophage. A number of recombinant VLPs were constructed, each displaying a different hCG-derived peptide. Some were taken from t...

Brucellosis, produced by Brucella species, is a disease that causes severe economic losses for livestock farms worldwide Due to serious economic and medical consequences of this disease, many efforts have been made to prevent the infection through the use of recombinant vaccines based on Brucella outer membrane protein (OMP) antigens. In the present study, a wide range of on-line prediction sof...

Natural immunity to CMV dominates the CD4 and CD8 memory compartments of the CMV-seropositive host. This property has been recently exploited for experimental CMV-based vaccine vector strategies, and it has shown promise in animal models of AIDS and Ebola disease. Although it is generally agreed that CMV-based vaccine vectors may induce highly protective and persistent memory T cells, the influ...

CTL lines have now been generated against defined peptides of a range of human tumor-associated antigens (TAAs). One of the potential uses of these epitope-specific CTLs is in adoptive transfer immunotherapy. This is a modality, however, that will require long-term in vitro culture of CTLs. To date, little has been reported concerning the phenotypic stability of human epitope-specific CTLs as a...

PURPOSE The product of the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) gene is an attractive candidate for T-cell-based immunotherapy because it is frequently expressed in epithelial solid carcinomas. Although many CEA peptide epitopes capable of stimulating CTLs have been identified, no MHC class II-restricted T helper epitope has yet been reported. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The amino acid sequence of CEA was ...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Foreign peptide sequences can be inserted into the betaB-betaC loop of the cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) small coat protein (SCP) to yield functional chimaeric viruses. Immunisation with chimaeric CPMV elicits immune responses that protect against human immunodeficiency and mink enteritis viruses. The present study was undertaken to investigate the expression of a B cell ep...