Synthetic peptide vaccines provide the advantages of safety, stability and low cost. The success of this approach is highly dependent on efficient epitope identification and synthetic strategies for efficacious delivery. In malaria, the Merozoite Surface Protein-9 of Plasmodium vivax (PvMSP9) has been considered a vaccine candidate based on the evidence that specific antibodies were able to inh...

This study aims to design epitope-based peptides for the utility of vaccine development by targeting outer membrane protein F (Omp F), because two available licensed vaccines, live oral Ty21a and injectable polysaccharide, are 50% to 80% protective with a higher rate of side effects. Conventional vaccines take longer time for development and have less differentiation power between vaccinated an...

Peptide presentation is critical for immune recognition of pathogen-infected cells by CD8+ T lymphocytes. Although a limited number of immunodominant peptide epitopes are consistently observed in diseases such as HIV-1 infection, the relationship between immunodominance and antigen processing in humans is largely unknown. Here, we have demonstrated that endogenous processing and presentation of...

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and its receptor (IL-2R) play a major role in cellular immunity. The monoclonal antibodies basiliximab and daclizumab directed against the IL-2R subunit CD25 are widely used to prevent graft or host rejection after allogeneic tissue transplantation. Although these antibodies have been used for this purpose for many years, their common epitope within the CD25 protein is unkn...

Restricted and high-level expression of interleukin-13 receptor alpha2 (IL-13Ralpha2) in a majority of human malignant gliomas makes this protein an attractive vaccine target. We have previously described the identification of the IL-13Ralpha2(345-353) peptide as a human leukocyte antigen-A2 (HLA-A2)-restricted CTL epitope. However, as it remains unclear how efficiently peptide-based vaccines c...

This study shows that induction of tumor-specific CD4+ T cells by vaccination with a specific viral T helper epitope, contained within a synthetic peptide, results in protective immunity against major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II negative, virus-induced tumor cells. Protection was also induced against sarcoma induction by acutely transforming retrovirus. In contrast, no protective ...

The insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) is a transmembrane receptor with tyrosine kinase activity. The receptor plays a critical role in cancer. Using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against the IGF-1R, typically blocks ligand binding and enhances down-regulation of the cell-surface IGF-1R. Some MAbs such as cixutumumab are under clinical trial investigation. Targeting multiple distinct...

Neural progenitor cells were encapsulated in vitro within a three-dimensional network of nanofibers formed by self-assembly of peptide amphiphile molecules. The self-assembly is triggered by mixing cell suspensions in media with dilute aqueous solutions of the molecules, and cells survive the growth of the nanofibers around them. These nanofibers were designed to present to cells the neurite-pr...

Induction of virus-specific CD8⁺ T cell responses is critical for the success of vaccines against chronic viral infections. Despite the large number of potential MHC-I-restricted epitopes located in viral proteins, MHC-I-restricted epitope generation is inefficient, and factors defining the production and presentation of MHC-I-restricted viral epitopes are poorly understood. Here, we have demon...

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...