Method for identification of cryptic peptides

摘要

The invention provides a method of determining whether a peptide of a protein is a cryptic peptide epitope, which method includes the steps of: i) exposing T cells to the peptide in a primary challenge; ii) measuring the reactivity of T cells with the peptide in the primary challenge of step i); iii) exposing pre-challenged T cells with the peptide in a secondary challenge, wherein the pre-challenged T cells are obtainable by exposing the T cells to the protein; and measuring the reactivity of the pre-challenged T cells with the peptide in the secondary challenge of step iii), and the peptide is a cryptic peptide if T-cell reactivity is observable in the secondary challenge but not in the primary challenge.