Molecular Modeling of the Class I Human Histocompatibility Molecule HLA-A2 Presenting an Allele-Specific Nonapeptide from Influenza Matrix Protein

Epitope mapping: synthetic approaches to the understanding of molecular recognition in the immune system

Progress in the field of immunochemistry is rapidly increasing due to very efficient methods of epitope mapping. Experimental results on the allele-specific sequence motifs of MHC-binding peptides allow the exact forecast of T-cell epitopes and, in combination with B-cell prediction methods and synthetic adjuvant systems, fully synthetic vaccines may be constructed. Methods of multiple peptide synthesis are of particular use for such constructs and for the fine mapping of monoclonal antibodies or sera of patients. Peptide libraries, containing hundred thousands of different oligopeptides are made available for novel screening procedures. These techniques and their applications in various fields are summarized and discussed with respect to efficiency and productivity.

MHC molecules as peptide receptors

The central unit for regulation of the specific immune system is a trimolecular complex made up of the T cell antigen receptor, the MHC molecule, and the MHC ligand. The third component is a peptide derived as a degradation product from a protein. During recent years there has been some progress in understanding the interaction between MHC molecules and their peptide ligands: MHC molecules are peptide receptors of peculiar specificity, being able to accommodate millions of different peptides provided they share some common features.