SYNTHETIC PEPTIDE SPECIFICITY OF ANTI-MYELIN BASIC PROTEIN FROM MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS CEREBROSPINAL FLUID

摘要

Human basic myelin protein (h-MBP) has amolecular weight of 18.5 KD and contains 170 amino acidresidues. Synthetic peptides ranging in length from 8 to25 residues and covering the entire length of the proteinhave been produced. Antibodies to h-MBP (anti-MBP) werefound to be neutralized by the synthetic peptides, whichspan the h-MBP from about amino acid residue 61 to aboutammo acid residue 106. The synthetic peptides, whichcover both the amino (about residues 1 to 63) and carboxy(about residues 117 to 162) terminals of h-MBP did notneutralize purified anti-MBP. Accordingly, intrathecaladministration of selected synthetic MBP peptides may beused as a treatment for Multiple Sclerosis byneutralizing anti-MBP.