METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR THE PREPARATION AND USE OF SITE-DIRECTED IMMUNOLOGIC REAGENTS

摘要

Disclosed are peptidyl-resin conjugates made up of an immunogenic/antigenic peptide conjugated to a polyamide resin, wherein the peptide incorporates a helper T-cell epitope. The inclusion of a T-cell epitope in this peptide sequence provides particular benefits in the preparation of site-directed reagents intended as immunogens. In exemplary studies, a synthetic peptide predicted from Abelson murine leukemia virus abl oncogene (residues 389-403) was synthesized with a T-cell active epitope of 7 amino acids placed at its N-terminus (T-abl-resin). The T-abl-resin construct was found to greatly stimulate the immune response giving significantly higher specific antibody titers than abl-resin controls.