Method for Producing Viral Vaccine and Therapeutic Peptide Antigens

摘要

A method of producing viral antigens for use in a vaccine or therapeutic composition against infection by a virus, and a composition produced thereby, are disclosed. The method is applicable to viruses having a plurality of subtypes whose protein sequences for at least one viral protein or polyprotein are known. Regions of a selected viral protein that (i) are known or predicted to bind to MHC proteins in host antigen-presenting cells, and (ii) have a moderate amino acid variability within the virus subtypes are systematically varied in amino acid sequence, and tested for enhanced binding to MHC proteins. The composition includes those peptides having the highest binding affinity for MHC proteins.