Valency requirements for B cell activation upon antigen encounter are poorly understood. OB1 transnuclear B cells express an IgG1 B cell receptor (BCR) specific for ovalbumin (OVA), the epitope of which can be mimicked using short synthetic peptides to allow antigen-specific engagement of the BCR. By altering length and valency of epitope-bearing synthetic peptides, we examined the properties o...

We obtained neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against a continuous neutralization epitope on VP2 of poliovirus type 1 strain Mahoney by using a combined in vivo-in vitro immunization procedure. The antibody-binding site was mapped to amino acid residues within the peptide segment (residues 164 through 170) of VP2 by competition with synthetic peptide and sequencing of resistant mutants. Cross-...

Plastic Antibodies for Selective Binding of SARS-CoV-2 Spike In article number 2101925, Alex D. Batista, Beatriz Fresco-Cala, and co-workers design synthesize the very first silane-based silica core/shell molecularly imprinted polymers using an epitope peptide from spike protein as a template, which can act synthetic angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor (ACE2) bind to SARS-CoV-2. The intera...

Peptide vaccination induces T cell activation and cytotoxic T cell development. In an effort to understand what factors can improve immune responses to peptide vaccination, the role of 4-1BB (CD137) costimulation was examined, since 4-1BB has been shown to promote T cell responses in other systems. 4-1BBL-deficient (-/-) and wild-type (+/+) mice were immunized with a lipidated lymphocytic chori...

Hyperuricemia (HUA) is related to diabetes. Uric acid-induced inflammation and oxidative stress are risk factors for diabetes and its complications. Human urate transporter 1 (URAT1) regulates the renal tubular reabsorption of uric acid. IA-2(5)-P2-1, a potent immunogenic carrier designed by our laboratory, can induce high-titer specific antibodies when it carries a B cell epitope, such as B ce...

Here, we sought to determine whether peptide vaccines designed harbor both class I as well as class II restricted antigenic motifs could concurrently induce CD4 and CD8 T cell activation against autologous tumor antigens. Based on our prior genome-wide interrogation of human prostate cancer tissues to identify genes over-expressed in cancer and absent in the periphery, we targeted SIM2 as a pro...

HLA-B27-restricted CTL responses to EBV are principally directed against two of the EBV nuclear Ags, EBNAs 3B and 3C. We have previously described a target epitope derived from EBNA 3C (residues 258-266, sequence RRIYDLIEL) that is immunodominant in the context of at least three different B27 subtypes, including B*2705 and B*2702. In this study, we show that this peptide binds well to B*2705 an...

Single amino acid substitutions at TCR contacts may transform a natural peptide Ag in CTL ligands with partial agonist, antagonist, or null activity. We obtained peptide variants by changing nonanchor amino acid residues involved in MHC class I binding. These peptides were derived from a subdominant HLA-A2-presented, latent membrane protein 2-derived epitope expressed in EBV-infected cells and ...

Alterations in the p53 gene occur frequently and can lead to accumulation of p53 protein in squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN). Since accumulation of p53 is associated with enhanced presentation of wild-type sequence (wt) p53 peptides to immune cells, the development of pan vaccines against SCCHN has focused on wt p53 epitopes. We used the HLA-A2.1-restricted wt p53(264-272) ...