Use of a composition comprising heat shock protein or α-2-macroglobulin in the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases

摘要

The present invention relates to methods and compositions for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, and cancers. The methods of the invention comprises administering (a) a composition comprising a population of complexes of antigenic proteins or antigenic peptides derived from antigenic cells or viral particles and one or more different heat shock proteins; and (b) a non-heat shock protein and non-alpha-2-macroglobulin-based treatment modality. The population or the protein preparation used to produce the antigenic peptides comprises at least 50% of the different proteins or at least 50 different proteins of the antigenic cells or viral particles. Methods for making antigenic peptides comprise digesting a protein preparation of antigenic cells, a cellular fraction thereof, or of viral particles with one or more proteases, or exposing the protein preparation to ATP, guanidium hydrochloride, and/or acidic conditions.