MODIFIED MHC CLASS I BINDING PEPTIDES

摘要

The present invention relates to a method of producing a polypeptide or peptide, or nucleic acid encoding the polypeptide or peptide, wherein the polypeptide or peptide comprises a modified peptide sequence that has increased binding affinity for an MHC Class I molecule and/or generates a higher CD8+ T cell immune response, the method comprising: identifying a peptide sequence ("parent peptide") of a CD8+ T cell epitope of an antigen, wherein the peptide sequence is capable of being displayed on an MHC Class I molecule; and producing a polypeptide or peptide comprising a modified peptide sequence of the CD8+ T cell epitope or a nucleic acid molecule encoding said polypeptide or said peptide, wherein the modified peptide sequence has a mutation compared with the parent peptide, the mutation providing a cyclic or pseudo-cyclic amino acid residue at position 3 of the modified peptide sequence, defined such that the residues are sequentially numbered with position 1 being the first residue displayed within the peptide- binding groove of the MHC Class I molecule, and wherein the modified peptide has greater binding affinity for the MHC Class I molecule and/or generates a higher CD8+ T cell immune response, compared with the parent peptide.