PEPTIDE ANALOGUES OF MYELIN BASIC PROTEIN EPITOPES IN THE TREATMENT OF EXPERIMENTAL AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS (EAE) AND MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS)

摘要

This invention relates to novel linear and cyclic peptide analogues of MyelinBasic Protein epitopes (from guinea pig MBP72-85 and human MBP87-99) and theirconjugates with mannan and/or KLH useful in the treatment of ExperimentalAutoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE) and Multiple Sclerosis (MS). For the firsttime cyclic analogues of MBP epitopes have been synthesized and shown toprevent the development of EAE. There is gathering evidence that analogues ofdisease-associated epitopes can be conjugated to mannan and/or KLH andactively generate antigen specific regulatory CD4/CD8 T cells and Th1/Th2cytokines.