Materials and methods for inductions of immune tolerance

摘要

The invention provides methods of inducing immune tolerance to target antigens in individuals seropositive for certain infectious agents by administration of epitopes derived from those infectious agents. Epitopes derived from viruses which carry homologues of interleukin 10 (IL-10) in their genome, such as Epstein Barr Virus and cytomegalovirus, are particularly suitable for these purposes. Particularly preferred is the use of the EBV LMP1 protein and epitopes thereof.