SYNTHETIC POLYPEPTIDES DERIVED FROM THE HIV ENVELOPE GLYCOPROTEIN

摘要

A synthetic polypeptide has at least one antigenic property of the envelope protein of at least one strain of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), said polypeptide consists substantially of an amino acid sequence of the formula (I): X-R1-Leu-R2-Leu-Thr-Val-Trp-Gly-R3-Lys-Y, wherein R1 is selected from Gln-Gln-R4-R5, Gln-R4-R5, R4-R5, R5 or R1 is absent; R2 is an amino acid residue selected from Gln, Lys, Glu or Arg; R3 is an amino acid residue selected from Ile, Thr or Ala; R4 is His or Glu; R5 is Leu or Met; and X and Y may each independently be absent or independently be one or more amino acid residues. Preferred peptides are (Ia): X-Gln-Gln-His-Leu-Leu-Gln-Leu-Thr-Val-Trp-Gly-Ile-Lys-Y; (Ib): X-Leu-Gln-Leu-Thr-Val-Trp-Gly-Ile-Lys-Y; (IIa) X-Gln-Gln-Glu-Met-Leu-Arg-Leu-Thr-Val-Trp-Gly-Thr-Lys-Y; and (IIb): X-Leu-Arg-Leu-Thr-Val-Trp-Gly-Thr-Lys-Y and desirably X is absent and Y is Gly-Cys or Gly-Cys-Ala. The peptides are similar to certain epitopes of HIV envelope proteins.