US20030191063A1 - Peptide selection method - Google Patents

Peptide selection method Download PDF

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Publication number
US20030191063A1
US20030191063A1 US10/362,264 US36226403A US2003191063A1 US 20030191063 A1 US20030191063 A1 US 20030191063A1 US 36226403 A US36226403 A US 36226403A US 2003191063 A1 US2003191063 A1 US 2003191063A1
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peptide
peptides
cell
antigen
mbp
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David Wraith
Stephen Anderton
Graziella Mazza
Mary Ponsford
Heather Streeter
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Apitope Technology Bristol Ltd
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Priority claimed from GB0020618A external-priority patent/GB0020618D0/en
Priority claimed from GB0114547A external-priority patent/GB0114547D0/en
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Assigned to APITOPE TECHNOLOGY (BRISTOL) LIMITED reassignment APITOPE TECHNOLOGY (BRISTOL) LIMITED ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL, THE
Assigned to APITOPE TECHNOLOGY (BRISTOL) LTD. reassignment APITOPE TECHNOLOGY (BRISTOL) LTD. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: MAZZA, GRAZIELLA, PONSFORD, MARY, STREETER, HEATHER BARBARA, WRAITH, DAVID CAMERON, ANDERTON, STEPHEN MARK
Publication of US20030191063A1 publication Critical patent/US20030191063A1/en
Priority to US11/979,224 priority Critical patent/US8343500B2/en
Priority to US13/706,540 priority patent/US8961986B2/en
Priority to US15/926,637 priority patent/US20180311328A1/en
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K7/00—Peptides having 5 to 20 amino acids in a fully defined sequence; Derivatives thereof
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
    • A61P25/00—Drugs for disorders of the nervous system
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
    • A61K39/00—Medicinal preparations containing antigens or antibodies
    • A61K39/0005—Vertebrate antigens
    • A61K39/0008—Antigens related to auto-immune diseases; Preparations to induce self-tolerance
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K14/00—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
    • C07K14/435—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
    • C07K14/46—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans from vertebrates
    • C07K14/47—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans from vertebrates from mammals
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
    • A61K38/00—Medicinal preparations containing peptides
    • A61K38/04—Peptides having up to 20 amino acids in a fully defined sequence; Derivatives thereof
    • A61K38/10—Peptides having 12 to 20 amino acids
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61K—PREPARATIONS FOR MEDICAL, DENTAL OR TOILETRY PURPOSES
    • A61K38/00—Medicinal preparations containing peptides
    • A61K38/16—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
    • A61K38/17—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
    • A61P37/00—Drugs for immunological or allergic disorders
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
    • A61P37/00—Drugs for immunological or allergic disorders
    • A61P37/02—Immunomodulators
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
    • A61P37/00—Drugs for immunological or allergic disorders
    • A61P37/02—Immunomodulators
    • A61P37/06—Immunosuppressants, e.g. drugs for graft rejection
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61P—SPECIFIC THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS OR MEDICINAL PREPARATIONS
    • A61P37/00—Drugs for immunological or allergic disorders
    • A61P37/08—Antiallergic agents
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
    • C07K—PEPTIDES
    • C07K14/00—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof
    • C07K14/435—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans
    • C07K14/46—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans from vertebrates
    • C07K14/47—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans from vertebrates from mammals
    • C07K14/4701—Peptides having more than 20 amino acids; Gastrins; Somatostatins; Melanotropins; Derivatives thereof from animals; from humans from vertebrates from mammals not used
    • C07K14/4713—Autoimmune diseases, e.g. Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, multiple sclerosis, rheumathoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus; Autoantigens
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01N—INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
    • G01N33/00—Investigating or analysing materials by specific methods not covered by groups G01N1/00 - G01N31/00
    • G01N33/48—Biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Haemocytometers
    • G01N33/50—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing
    • G01N33/5005—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing involving human or animal cells
    • G01N33/5008—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing involving human or animal cells for testing or evaluating the effect of chemical or biological compounds, e.g. drugs, cosmetics
    • G01N33/5044—Chemical analysis of biological material, e.g. blood, urine; Testing involving biospecific ligand binding methods; Immunological testing involving human or animal cells for testing or evaluating the effect of chemical or biological compounds, e.g. drugs, cosmetics involving specific cell types
    • G01N33/5047—Cells of the immune system
    • G01N33/505—Cells of the immune system involving T-cells

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method for selecting a tolerogenic peptide, a peptide identified by such a method and its use in the treatment and/or prevention of a disease.
  • the present invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition comprising a plurality of such tolerogenic peptides.
  • T lymphocytes are capable of recognising internal epitopes of a protein antigen.
  • Antigen presenting cells APC
  • a peptide may bind to a major histocompatability complex (MHC) class I or II molecule inside the cell and be carried to the cell surface.
  • MHC major histocompatability complex
  • TCR T cell receptor
  • T cell epitopes play a central role in the adaptive immune response to any antigen, whether self or foreign.
  • the central role played by T cell epitopes in hypersensitivity diseases (which include allergy, autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection) has been demonstrated through the use of experimental models. It is possible to induce inflammatory or allergic diseases by injection of synthetic peptides (based on the structure of T cell epitopes) in combination with adjuvant.
  • tolerogenic peptides to treat or prevent disease has attracted considerable attention.
  • One reason for this is that it has been shown that certain tolerogenic epitopes can down-regulate responses of T cells for distinct antigens within the same tissue.
  • This phenomenon known as “bystander suppression” means that it should be possible to induce tolerance to more than one epitope (preferably all epitopes) within a given antigen, and to more than one antigen for a given disease, using a particular tolerogenic peptide (Anderton and Wraith (1998) as above). This would obviate the need to identify all of the pathogenic antigens within a particular disease.
  • Peptides are also a favourable option for therapy because of their relatively low cost and the fact that peptide analogues can be produced with altered immunological properties. Peptides may thus be modified to alter their interactions with either MHC or TCR.
  • MBP myelin basic protein
  • a peptide epitope is of an appropriate size to be presented by immature APC without antigen processing, it can induce immunological tolerance.
  • T cell epitopes are tolerogenic and others are incapable of inducing tolerance can therefore be explained by the fact that some epitopes require further processing before they are capable of being presented by an MHC molecule.
  • These epitopes which require further processing do not induce tolerance when administered in a soluble form, despite their capacity to induce disease when injected in combination with adjuvant.
  • apitopes Antigen Processing Independent epiTOPES
  • This finding provides a rule-based method for selection of tolerogenic T cell epitopes which obviates the need to examine the tolerogenic capacity of a peptide in vivo. This is particularly advantageous in the development of strategies to treat or prevent diseases for which no animal models are available. Even for diseases which have an animal model, the selection method should make the development of tolerance-inducing compositions simpler and safer, because it provides a mechanism whereby the tolerance induction capacity of a peptide can be tested on human T cells (recognising antigen in conjunction with human MHC molecules) in vitro, prior to their use in vivo.
  • the present invention provides a method for selecting a tolerogenic peptide which comprises the step of selecting a peptide which is capable of binding to an MHC class I or class II molecule without further processing.
  • the peptide is capable of binding to an MHC class II molecule without further processing.
  • a number of methods are known in the art for screening for peptides which are capable of acting as T cell epitopes for a given antigen. Commonly, therefore, the method will be used to select a tolerogenic peptide from a plurality of peptides each comprising a T cell epitope.
  • the method comprises the following steps:
  • the present invention provides peptide selected by the method of the first aspect of the invention.
  • the peptide may be useful in the treatment and/or prevention of a disease.
  • the peptide may be useful in the treatment and/or prevention of a disease which is mediated by autoreactive T cells.
  • Hypersensitivity reactions are particularly amenable to treatment/prevention using the peptide of the present invention, for example allergy, autoimmunity and transplant rejection.
  • the present inventors have already identified a number of apitopes for myelin basic protein, which is an autoantigen in multiple sclerosis.
  • the peptides of the present invention are useful in the treatment and/or prevention of multiple sclerosis.
  • the present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising a plurality of peptides according to the second aspect of the invention, each peptide being based on a T cell epitope.
  • the present invention provides a method for treating and/or preventing a disease in a subject which comprises the step of administering a peptide according to the second aspect of the invention to the subject.
  • a general strategy for treating and/or preventing a disease in a subject may comprise the following steps:
  • FIG. 1 shows a typical example of the kinetic profile to Mycobacterium tuberculosis purified protein derivative (PPD) and MBP in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients and healthy individuals.
  • PPD Mycobacterium tuberculosis purified protein derivative
  • MS Multiple Sclerosis
  • PBMC Peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from an MS patient (A) and normal individual (B) are tested for their ability to proliferate in the presence of PPD and whole MBP; the kinetic profile of the proliferative response to MBP is compared with that of secondary antigen PPD.
  • FIG. 2 is a table which summarises PBMC responses to MBP and its peptides in MS patients. Certain individuals are analysed on three separate time points, with a period of approximately 4 to 7 months between each time point.
  • FIG. 3 is a table which summarises PBMC responses to MBP and MBP-peptides in healthy individuals. Between 4 and 7 months elapsed between each time point.
  • FIG. 4 shows an example of an MS patient (MS 49) who responds to multiple peptides at 2 different time points, but for whom the recognition profile during the second time point, measured 4 months later, differs significantly.
  • PBMC were cultured in the presence of MBP and a panel of peptides spanning the full length of MBP, and proliferation was measures by 3H-thymidine uptake, The broad T-cell proliferative response observed at the first time point was significantly different to the response measured 7 months later (second time point).
  • FIG. 5 shows an example of a patient whose broad epitope response (first time point) regresses (second time point) and reappears over a twelve-month period (third time point).
  • FIG. 6 shows a map of the fine specificity of the peptide regions identified in the kinetic response assay which is obtained through the use of TCC generated from MS patients and healthy individuals. Most of the peptides used in screening assays are 15-mer in length, however a few are 10-mer, and 1 peptide is 17-mer. The specificity of each TCC is tested at least twice.
  • FIG. 7 a is a table showing the characterisation of T cell epitopes within myelin basic protein recognised by T lymphocytes from MS patients.
  • FIG. 7 b is a table showing that all T cell epitopes are not necessarily presented by fixed APC and therefore not apitopes.
  • FIGS. 8 and 9 show the presentation of various MBP peptides to T cell clones by live and fixed APC.
  • FIG. 10 is a table which shows peak Stimulation Index (SI) values to MBP and MBP-peptides in MS patients obtained on three separate time points.
  • SI peak Stimulation Index
  • Samples for the second time point were collected 4-8 months following the 1 st time point, and samples for the 3 rd time point were obtained 3-5 months following the second time point.
  • Background cpm was measured for each day and varied between 80-700 cpm; a positive response (bold) was defined according to SI>3 and ⁇ cpm>1000. (It was not possible to collect samples for all three time points from patients MS19 and MS 67).
  • FIG. 11 is a table which shows peak Stimulation Index (SI) values to MBP and MBP-peptides in healthy individuals. Background cpm was measured for each day and varied between 80-700 cpm; a positive response (bold) was defined according to SI>3 and dcpm>1000.
  • SI Stimulation Index
  • FIG. 12 shows the response of T-cells isolated from a DR2:MBP82-100 transgenic mouse to presentation of nested MBP peptides in the region 77-100 by APC.
  • FIG. 13 shows the response of T cell clone MS17:A3 to presentation of nested MBP peptides in the region 125-148 by APC.
  • FIG. 14 is an illustration of T cell epitope recognition within the MBP 89-101 sequence. There are three distinct but overlapping T cell epitopes within the sequence: 89-94, 92-98 and 95-101. The potential for cleavage between residues 94 and 95 by the action of asparginyl endoepetidase (AEP) is shown.
  • AEP asparginyl endoepetidase
  • FIG. 15 shows the capacity of MBP peptides 87-96 (A) and 89-101 (B) to act as an apitope for T cells responding to the 89-94 epitope.
  • the present invention relates to a method for selecting a tolerogenic peptide.
  • tolerogenic means capable of inducing tolerance.
  • Tolerance is the failure to respond to an antigen. Tolerance to self antigens is an essential feature of the immune system, when this is lost, autoimmune disease can result.
  • the adaptive immune system must maintain the capacity to respond to an enormous variety of infectious agents while avoiding autoimmune attack of the self antigens contained within its own tissues. This is controlled to a large extent by the sensitivity of immature T lymphocytes to apoptotic cell death in the thymus (central tolerance). However, not all self antigens are detected in the thymus, so death of self-reactive thymocytes remains incomplete. There are thus also mechanisms by which tolerance may be acquired by mature self-reactive T lymphocytes in the peripheral tissues (peripheral tolerance). A review of the mechanisms of central and peripheral tolerance is given in Anderton et al (1999) ( Immunological Reviews 169:123-137).
  • Tolerance may result from or be characterised by the induction of anergy in at least a portion of CD4+ T cells.
  • a peptide In order to activate a T cell, a peptide must associate with a “professional” APC capable of delivering two signals to T cells.
  • the first signal (signal 1) is delivered by the MHC-peptide complex on the cell surface of the APC and is received by the T cell via the TCR.
  • the second signal (signal 2) is delivered by costimulatory molecules on the surface of the APC, such as CD80 and CD86, and received by CD28 on the surface of the T cell. It is thought that when a T cell receives signal 1 in the absence of signal 2, it is not activated and, in fact, becomes anergic.
  • Anergic T cells are refractory to subsequent antigenic challenge, and may be capable of suppressing other immune responses.
  • Anergic T cells are thought to be involved in mediating T cell tolerance.
  • Mature antigen presenting cells such as macrophages, B cells and dendritic cells
  • Apitopes will be able to bind class II MHC on immature APC. Thus they will be presented to T cells without costimulation, leading to T cell anergy and tolerance.
  • apitopes are also capable of binding to MHC molecules at the cell surface of mature APC.
  • the immune system contains a greater abundance of immature than mature APC (it has been suggested that less than 10% of dendritic cells are activated, Summers et al. (2001) Am. J. Pathol. 159: 285-295).
  • the default position to an apitope will therefore be anergy/tolerance, rather than activation.
  • the method of the present invention comprises the step of selecting a peptide which is capable of binding to an MHC class I or II protein without further processing.
  • a peptide which is capable of binding to an MHC class I or II protein without further processing.
  • Such peptides are known herein as “apitopes” (Antigen Processing Independent epiTOPES).
  • apitope of the present invention is based on a dominant epitope.
  • epitope “spreading” may occur to sub-dominant determinants (Lehmann et al (1992) Nature 358:155-157). Presentation of sub-dominant epitopes may be important in triggering autoimmunity.
  • the apitope of the present invention may, therefore be based on a subdominant epitope.
  • cryptic epitopes may also exist.
  • Cryptic epitopes are those which can stimulate a T cell response when administered as a peptide but which fail to produce such a response when administered as a whole antigen. It may be that during processing of the antigen into peptides in the APC the cryptic epitope is destroyed.
  • the present inventors have shown that peptide 92-98 is a cryptic epitope for MBP (Example 2C). Interestingly there is a putative cleavage site for asparaginyl endopeptidase within this peptide region, which may mean that during natural processing, no peptides containing this region are generated by the APC.
  • a cryptic epitope may act as an apitope in vitro, in that it may be capable of binding to an MHC molecule without further processing, and inducing anergy in a T cell which recognises the cryptic epitope.
  • an apitope would be unlikely to be therapeutically useful because it should be incapable of tolerising T cells which recognise a naturally processed epitope of the antigen.
  • Epitopes for an antigen may be identified by measuring the T cell response to overlapping peptides spanning the entire antigen (see below) when presented by APC. Such studies usually result in “nested sets” of peptides, and the minimal epitope for a particular T cell line/clone can be assessed by measuring the response to truncated peptides.
  • apitope It cannot be assumed that a minimal epitope of an antigen will behave as an apitope. It may well be that amino acids flanking the minimal epitope will be required for optimal binding to the MHC. The apitope should be designed to cover the possibility that there may be subtle differences between the minimal epitopes of different T cell clones.
  • Naturally processed epitopes may be identified by mass spectrophotometric analysis of peptides eluted from antigen-loaded APC. These are APC that have either been encouraged to take up antigen, or have been forced to produce the protein intracellularly by transformation with the appropriate gene. Typically APC are incubated with protein either in solution or suitably targeted to the APC cell surface. After incubation at 37° C. the cells are lysed in detergent and the class II protein purified by, for example affinity chromatography. Treatment of the purified MHC with a suitable chemical medium (for example, acid conditions) results in the elution of peptides from the MHC.
  • a suitable chemical medium for example, acid conditions
  • This pool of peptides is separated and the profile compared with peptide from control APC treated in the same way.
  • the peaks unique to the protein expressing/fed cells are analysed (for example by mass spectrometry) and the peptide fragments identified.
  • This procedure usually generates information about the range of peptides (usually found in “nested sets”) generated from a particular antigen by antigen processing.
  • Another method for identifying epitopes is to screen a synthetic library of peptides which overlap and span the length of the antigen in an in vitro assay.
  • peptides which are 15 amino acids in length and which overlap by 5 or 10 amino acids may be used.
  • the peptides are tested in an antigen presentation system which comprises antigen presenting cells and T cells.
  • the antigen presentation system may be a murine splenocyte preparation, a preparation of human cells from tonsil or PBMC.
  • the antigen presentation system may comprise a particular T cell line/clone and/or a particular antigen presenting cell type.
  • T cell activation may be measured via T cell proliferation (for example using 3 H-thymidine incorporation) or cytokine production.
  • Activation of TH1-type CD4+ T cells can, for example be detected via IFN ⁇ production which may be detected by standard techniques, such as an ELISPOT assay.
  • Overlapping peptide studies usually indicate the area of the antigen in which an epitope is located.
  • the minimal epitope for a particular T cell can then be assessed by measuring the response to truncated peptides. For example if a response is obtained to the peptide comprising residues 1-15 in the overlapping library, sets which are truncated at both ends (i.e. 1-14, 1-13, 1-12 etc. and 2-15, 3-15, 4-15 etc.) can be used to identify the minimal epitope.
  • the kinetic assay described by the inventors provides a valuable tool because it reveals the epitope to which a patient is responding at a particular time.
  • This information may be used to tailor a therapeutic apitope-administration approach for a particular patient by identifying and administering an apitope for the relevant epitope (if there is one).
  • This information may also enable a general pattern to be drawn up for disease progression, so that the therapeutic composition can be designed to include apitopes to the epitopes which are likely to be present at a given stage during the disease.
  • apitope must be presented to T cells without the need for antigen processing. Having identified peptides containing T cell epitopes, apitopes may be identified using a processing free system. Truncated peptides and peptide analogues may be tested for activation using an antigen processing independent presentation system (APIPS).
  • APIPS antigen processing independent presentation system
  • APIPS examples include:
  • APC APC may be fixed using, for example formaldehyde (usually paraformaldehyde) or glutaraldehyde.
  • Lipid membranes (which may be planar membranes or liposomes) may be prepared using artificial lipids or may be plasma membrane/microsomal fractions from APC.
  • the APIPS may be applied to the wells of a tissue culture plate. Peptide antigens are then added and binding of the peptide to the MHC portion of the APIPS is detected by addition of selected T cell lines or clones. Activation of the T cell line or clone may be measured by any of the methods known in the art, for example via 3 H-thymidine incorporation or cytoldine secretion.
  • the second aspect of the invention relates to a peptide.
  • peptide is used in the normal sense to mean a series of residues, typically L-amino acids, connected one to the other typically by peptide bonds between the ⁇ -amino and carboxyl groups of adjacent amino acids
  • the term includes modified peptides and synthetic peptide analogues.
  • a peptide of the present invention may be any length that is capable of binding to an MHC class I or II molecule without further processing.
  • Peptides that bind to MHC class I molecules are typically 7 to 13, more usually 8 to 10 amino acids in length.
  • the binding of the peptide is stabilised at its two ends by contacts between atoms in the main chain of the peptide and invariant sites in the peptide-binding groove of all MHC class I molecules. There are invariant sites at both ends of the groove which bind the amino and carboxy termini of the peptide. Variations is peptide length are accomodated by a kinking in the peptide backbone, often at proline or glycine residues that allow the required flexibility.
  • Peptides which bind to MHC class II molecules are typically between 8 and 20 amino acids in length, more usually between 10 and 17 amino acids in length, and can be much longer. These peptides lie in an extended conformation along the MHC II peptide-binding groove which (unlike the MHC class I peptide-binding groove) is open at both ends. The peptide is held in place mainly by main-chain atom contacts with conserved residues that line the peptide-binding groove.
  • the peptide of the present invention may be made using chemical methods (Peptide Chemistry, A practical Textbook. Mikos Bodansky, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.). For example, peptides can be synthesized by solid phase techniques (Roberge J Y et al (1995) Science 269: 202-204), cleaved from the resin, and purified by preparative high performance liquid chromatography (e.g., Creighton (1983) Proteins Structures And Molecular Principles, WH Freeman and Co, New York N.Y.). Automated synthesis may be achieved, for example, using the ABI 43 1 A Peptide Synthesizer (Perkin Elmer) in accordance with the instructions provided by the manufacturer.
  • the peptide may alternatively be made by recombinant means, or by cleavage from a longer polypeptide.
  • the peptide may be obtained by cleavage from the target antigen.
  • the composition of a peptide may be confirmed by amino acid analysis or sequencing (e.g., the Edman degradation procedure).
  • the peptide is derivable from a target antigen.
  • a target antigen is a molecule (for example a protein or glycoprotein) which is processed by APC and recognised by T cells during the course of the disease.
  • the target antigen will, of course, depend on the target disease.
  • the peptide is derivable from a fragment of the antigen which arises by natural processing of the antigen by an APC.
  • the peptide should be soluble at a concentration which permits its use in vivo.
  • the peptide should be soluble at concentrations of up to 0.5 mg/ml, more preferably the peptide should be soluble at concentrations of up to 1 mg/ml, most preferably the peptide should be soluble at concentrations of up to 5 mg/ml.
  • the maximum volume of dose which can be taken up using current procedures is approximately 200 ⁇ l per nostril. If the peptide is soluble at 1 mg/ml, a double dose to each nostril enables 800 ⁇ g to be given to the patient. It is unusual to give more that 5 mg in any individual dose.
  • the peptide is sufficiently stable in vivo to be therapeutically useful.
  • the present inventors have found that in vivo, 30 minutes after administration the total amount of a test peptide drops to about 50%, 4 hours after administration the amount drops to about 30%, but that after 5 days the peptide is still detectable (at about 5%).
  • the half-life of the peptide in vivo should be at least 10 minutes, preferably at least 30 minutes, more preferably at least 4 hours, most preferably at least 24 hours.
  • the present inventors have found that following intranasal administration, the amount of peptide in the draining lymph node peaks at about 4 hrs following administration, however peptide is still detectable (at levels of about 5% maximum) after 5 days.
  • the peptide is sufficiently stable to be present at a therapeutically active concentration in the draining lymph node for long enough to exert a therapeutic effect.
  • the peptide should also demonstrate good bioavailability in vivo.
  • the peptide should maintain a conformation in vivo which enables it to bind to an MHC molecule at the cell surface without due hindrance.
  • the peptide of the second aspect of the invention is for use in the treatment and/or prevention of a disease.
  • An apitope for MHC class II is likely to be particularly useful in diseases which are mediated by CD4+ T cell responses. For example, diseases which are established or maintained by an inappropriate or excessive CD4+ T cell response.
  • Hypersensitivity reactions include:
  • allergies include, but are not limited to: hay fever, extrinsic asthma, insect bite and sting allergies, food and drug allergies, allergic rhinitis, bronchial asthma chronic bronchitis, anaphylactic syndrome, urticaria, angioedema, atopic dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis, erythema nodosum, erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, rhinoconjunctivitis, conjunctivitis, cutaneous necrotizing venulitis, inflammatory lung disease and bullous skin diseases.
  • autoimmune diseases include, but are not limited to: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), myasthenia gravis (MG), multiple sclerosis (MS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), autoimmune thyroiditis (Hashimoto's thyroiditis), Graves' disease, inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune uveoretinitis, polymyositis and certain types of diabetes, systemic vasculitis, polymyositis-dermatomyositis, systemic sclerosis (scleroderma), Sjogren's Syndrome, ankylosing spondylitis and related spondyloarthropathies, rheumatic fever, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, inorganic dust pneumoconioses, sarcoidosis, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, immunological platelet disorders, cryopathies such as cryofibrinogenemia and autoimmune polyendocrin
  • a variety of tissues are commonly transplanted in clinical medicine, including kidney, liver, heart lung, skin, cornea and bone marrow. All grafts except corneal and some bone marrow grafts usually require long-term immunosuppression at present.
  • the peptide is for use in the treatment and/or prevention of diabetes.
  • the peptide may be derivable from the target antigen IA2.
  • the peptide is for use in the treatment and/or prevention of multiple sclerosis (MS).
  • MS multiple sclerosis
  • MS is a chronic inflammatory disease characterised by multiple demyelinating lesions disseminated throughout the CNS white matter and occurring at various sites and times (McFarlin and McFarland, 1982 New England J. Medicine 307:1183-1188 and 1246-1251). MS is thought to be mediated by autoreactive T cells.
  • the peptide may be derivable from one of autoantigens, in particular myelin basic protein (MBP) or proteolipid protein (PLP).
  • MBP myelin basic protein
  • PLP proteolipid protein
  • MBP is possibly more appropriate than PLP, because PLP is highly hydrophobic and peptides derived from it tend to clump together.
  • MBP is immunogenic and MBP-specific T lymphocytes have encephalitogenic activity in animals (Segal et al., 1994 J. Neuroimmunol. 51:7-19; Voskuhl et al., 1993 J. Neuroimmunol 42:187-192; Zamvil et al., 1985 Nature 317:355-8).
  • the peptide is derivable from one of the immunodominant regions of MBP, namely: 1-24, 30-54, 75-99, 90-114, 105-129, 120-144, 135-159 and 150-170.
  • the peptide is selected from one of the MBP peptides shown to act as apitopes by the present inventors, which include the following peptides: 30-44, 80-94, 83-99, 81-95, 82-96, 83-97, 84-98, 110-124, 130-144, 131-145, 132-146 and 133-147.
  • Apitopes for MHC class I may be used, for example, to modify anti-viral CD8+responses in a tolerogenic fashion.
  • the present inventors predict that, despite “bystander suppression” it may be necessary to target a number of different T cell clones in order to induce tolerance effectively. Hence a plurality of peptides may be administered to an individual in order to prevent or treat a disease.
  • the present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition
  • a pharmaceutical composition comprising a plurality of apitopes.
  • the pharmaceutical composition may, for example comprise between 2 and 50 apitopes, preferably between 2 and 15 apitopes.
  • the apitopes may be derivable from the same or different target antigen(s).
  • the apitopes are either all able to bind to MHC class I, or all able to bind MHC class II, without further processing.
  • all the apitopes in the pharmaceutical composition are either able to bind to MHC class I or class II without further processing.
  • the pharmaceutical composition may be in the form of a kit, in which some or each of the apitopes are provided separately for simultaneous, separate or sequential administration.
  • each dose may be packaged separately.
  • the pharmaceutical composition may comprise a therapeutically or prophylactically effective amount of the or each apitope and optionally a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, diluent or excipient.
  • the or each apitope may be admixed with any suitable binder(s), lubricant(s), suspending agent(s), coating agent(s), or solubilising agent(s).
  • the peptide should be administered in soluble form in the absence of adjuvant.
  • the peptide is administered by a mucosal route.
  • peptide when given in soluble form intraperitoneally (i.p.), intravenously (i.v.) or intranasally (i.n.) or orally can induce T cell tolerance (Anderton and Wraith (1998) as above; Liu and Wraith (1995) as above; Metzler and Wraith (1999) Immunology 97:257-263).
  • the peptide is administered intranasally.
  • a plurality of peptides may be in the form of a “cocktail” which is suitable for administration in single or multiple doses. Alternatively it may be preferably to give multiple doses but vary the relative concentrations of the peptides between doses.
  • a “dose escalation” protocol may be followed, where a plurality of doses is given to the patient in ascending concentrations.
  • a “dose escalation” protocol may be followed, where a plurality of doses is given to the patient in ascending concentrations.
  • Such an approach has been used, for example, for phospholipase A2 peptides in immunotherapeutic applications against bee venom allergy (Muller et al (1998) J. Allergy Clin Immunol. 101:747-754 and Akdis et al (1998) J. Clin. Invest. 102:98-106).
  • Human MBP is prepared from brain white matter as described by Deibler et al. (Deibler et al., 1972 Preparative Biochemistry 2:139), and its purity assessed by SDS-PAGE.
  • MBP and Mycobacterium tuberculosis purified protein derivative (PPD) (UK Central Veterinary Laboratory, Surrey) are used in proliferative assays at previously determined optimal concentrations; the optimum concentration for each antigen is 50 ⁇ g/ml.
  • PPD Mycobacterium tuberculosis purified protein derivative
  • a panel of 15-mer overlapping peptides spanning the whole MBP molecule are synthesized using standard F-moc chemistry on an Abimed AMS 422 multiple peptide synthesizer (Abimed, Langenfeld, Germany).
  • Each peptide is displaced by 5 aa and overlapped by 10 aa.
  • the subjects of this study consist of 12 patients with clinically definite or laboratory supported definite MS (Poser et al., 1983), with an age range of 29-51 years. Eight of the 12 patients are involved in a trial of interferon- ⁇ , otherwise all other MS patients have received no corticosteroid treatment for at least 3 months prior to the commencement of the study.
  • the control group consisted of 13 healthy individuals with an age range of 25-55 years, and none have received immunosuppressive therapy for at least 3 months prior to the blood sample being obtained.
  • RPMI-1640 medium supplemented with 20 mM HEPES (Sigma, Poole, UK), penicillin (100U/ml), streptomycin sulphate (100 mg/ml), and 4 mM L-glutamine (all from Life Technologies, Paisley, Scotland), is used as the tissue culture medium.
  • Medium without serum is used for washing lymphoid cells and TCL.
  • medium is supplemented with 10% heat inactivated autologous plasma.
  • PBMC Peripheral blood mononuclear cells
  • MBP-specific T cell lines are generated from 8 MS patients and 2 healthy control donors.
  • PBMC from each subject are separated as described above and plated out at 1 ⁇ 10 6 cells/ml in 6-well plates in the presence of MBP (50 ⁇ g/ml); a portion of PBMC from each subject is regularly frozen and stored for subsequent restimulations. Seven days later the cells are fed with fresh medium containing 2% IL-2 (Lymphocult-HT; Biotest LTD., Birmingham, UK), and on day 12 of culture all cells are restimulated with antigen, IL-2 and irradiated (2500 Rad) autologous PBMC as a source of antigen presenting cells (APC), at a cell ratio of 1T cell:5 APC.
  • APC antigen presenting cells
  • TCL are cloned using PHA (Sigma, Poole, Dorset, UK)) in the presence of autologous irradiated PBMC as APC.
  • T cells are plated under limiting dilution conditions at 0.1 cell/well, 0.3 cell/well and 1 cell/well and cultured in Terasaki plates (Nunc International, Costar) with 1 ⁇ 10 4 irradiated PBMC, 5 ⁇ g/ml PHA, and 2% IL-2.
  • growth-positive wells are expanded onto 96-well round-bottom plates, using 1 ⁇ 10 5 irradiated PBMC, 5 ⁇ g/ml PHA and IL-2.
  • MBP-specific clones are expanded a week later onto 24-well plates, using 1 ⁇ 10 6 irradiated PBMC with PHA or Dynabeads (Dynal, UK) and IL-2.
  • the clones are maintained in 24-well plates using a 7-10 day restimulation/expansion cycle, essentially as described above.
  • T cell clones (TCC) to recognise the panel of MBP peptides is tested by proliferation assays, as described above.
  • the present inventors use a kinetic response assay in which PBMC from MS patients and healthy subjects are tested for their ability to respond to a panel of overlapping 15-mer synthetic peptides spanning the full length of human MBP.
  • the proliferative response of PBMC from each culture is examined at 5 time points over a period of 2 weeks, and the kinetic profile of the response to MBP and peptides is compared with the response to PPD, the latter representing a secondary response/memory antigen. No significant difference is found in the PBMC response to MBP and/or peptides between patients on Interferon- ⁇ and those on no treatment (data not shown).
  • FIG. 1 shows a typical example of the kinetic profile to PPD and MBP in MS patients and healthy individuals.
  • the two peptides most commonly recognised by MS patients are 90-114 and 75-99 (6/12 patients each), followed by regions 30-54, 135-159 and 150-170 (5/12 patients), and 1-24 and 105-129 (4/12 patients).
  • Three patients respond to aa 15-39 and 120-144.
  • Two patients recognise 45-69, and none of the MS patients respond to region 60-84.
  • healthy individuals recognise significantly fewer peptides, with only 2 control subjects responding to more than 2 peptides (C and J; FIG. 3).
  • Control individuals C and J are the only two who recognise aa 60-84, a region not seen by this group of patients.
  • both these individuals express the DRB1* 0701 allele.
  • Regions 45-69 and 105-129 are not recognised by any of the healthy donors, whereas 75-99 and 150-170 are recognised by 4 healthy individuals; 135-159 is recognised by three healthy individuals; 1-24, 30-54, 60-84 and 120-144 is recognised by two healthy individuals; and 15-39 and 90-114 are recognised by one individual.
  • 8/13 healthy individuals do not respond to any of the overlapping peptides, whereas only 1/12 MS patients (MS 19) consistently fail to recognise the MBP peptides. Notably this patient is unique in not responding to MBP protein.
  • FIG. 11 also shows the response of healthy individuals to MBP peptides.
  • N11 is also the only individual who recognises aa 60-84, a region not seen by this group of patients. Regions 15-39, 45-69 and 105-129 are not recognised by any of the healthy donors, wheres 120-144 and 135-159 are recognised by two healthy individuals; and 1-24, 30-54, 60-84, 75-99, 90-114 and 150-170 are recognised by one individual. Overall, 9/12 healthy individuals do not respond to any of the overlapping peptides.
  • FIG. 4 represents an example of an MS patient (MS 49) who responds to multiple peptides at 2 different time points, but the recognition profile during the second time point, measured 4 months later, differs significantly. That is, in the second kinetic assay the PBMC response to aa 15-39, 30-54 and 150-170 persists, however the response to 75-99 and 105-129 regresses and shifts to regions 90-114 and 135-159.
  • FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a patient whose broad epitope response regressed to a focused response over the period of 4 months.
  • the healthy individuals who are tested the second time round fail to respond to any of the peptides (FIG. 3).
  • TCC are generated from 8 MS patients and 2 healthy individuals, and used to clarify the fine specificity of the peptide regions identified in the kinetic response assay.
  • the specificity of each TCC is tested by its proliferative response to the panel of 15-mer peptides.
  • Region 30-54 is recognised by 4 clones (MS49:D3, MS49:C8, MS49:A8, MS49:B6) and the epitope within this region is 30-44.
  • MS39:D7 from an MS patient recognises peptide 60-74, and interestingly one healthy individual responds to this region (60-84) in our kinetic response assay.
  • This panel of clones clearly demonstrates the presence of at least 2 T cell epitopes within the 135-159 region of MBP. Lastly, region 150-170 is recognised by 2 clones specific to aa 156-169. The specificity of all TCC is summarised in FIG. 6.
  • T cell clones Presentation of the peptides to T cell clones is measured by proliferation.
  • APC are fixed in 0.5% paraformaldehyde and plated at 1 ⁇ 10 5 cells per well of a 96-well tissue culture plate.
  • T cells clones are plated at 2 ⁇ 10 4 cells per well in the presence of varying concentrations of peptide. After incubation for 48 h at 37° C., proliferation is measured by [ 3 H] thymidine incorporation over 16-20 h. Results are compared with the ability of T cells to respond to the epitope presented by live APC.
  • MBP peptides are apitopes
  • their capacity to be presented to T-cells by fixed APC is investigated.
  • Live or pre-pulsed Mgar (HLA-DR2+ve) cells are pre-pulsed with the peptide in serum, or serum alone for 3.5 hours. Excess peptide is then removed from cells and the appropriate T cell clone added. The T cell proliferative response is measured by 3 H-thymidine uptake.
  • peptides 30-44 (FIG. 8A), 110-124 (FIG. 8B), and 130-144 (FIG. 9A) can be presented by fixed APC without further processing. These peptides are therefore defined as apitopes.
  • Peptide 156-170 requires further processing for presentation to T cells (FIG. 9B). Fixed APC are unable to present this epitope to T cells, so 156-170 is not an apitope.
  • apitopes capable of being presented to APC without further processing.
  • the presence of apitopes within two regions of MBP is investigated by incubating live or p-formaldehyde-fixed Mgar (HLA-DR2+ve) cells are incubated with overlapping peptides in serum from MBP regions 77-100 (FIG. 12) and 125-148 (FIG. 13) or in serum alone. T cells were added and after 72 h (FIG. 12) or after 48 h (FIG. 13) the T cell proliferative response was measured by 3 H-thymidine uptake.
  • MBP 77-100 the T cells are isolated from a DR2:MBP 82-100 transgenic mouse, whereas for MBP 130-144 the T cell clone MS17:A3 is used.
  • MBP region 77-100 the following peptides are defined as apitopes: MBP 83-99 ENPVVHFFKNIVTPRTP MBP 80-94 TQDENPVVHFFKNIV MBP 81-95 QDENPVVHFFKNIVT MBP 82-96 DENPVVHFFKNIVTP MBP 83-97 ENPVVHFFKNIVTPR MBP 84-98 MPVVHFFKNIVTPRT
  • the minimum MBP sequence recognised by T cells from DR2 MBP 82-100 transgenic mouse is region 85-94.
  • MBP region 125-148 the following peptides are defined as apitopes: MBP 130-144 RASDYKSAHKGFKGV MBP 131-145 ASDYKSAHKGFKGVD MBP 132-146 SDYKSAHKGFKGVDA MBP 133-147 DYKSAHKGFKGVDAQ
  • the minimum MBP sequence recognized by T-cell clone MS17:A3 is region 133-144.
  • MBP 89-101 Comprises Three T Cell Epitopes
  • lymph node cells from mice primed with 81-111 are stimulated with 81-111 in vitro and these cells are tested with a panel of overlapping 10-mer peptides with two residue shifts covering the 81-111 region (namely: 81-90, 83-92, 85-94, 87-96, 89-98, 91-100, 93-102, 95-104, 97-106, 99-108 and 101-111).
  • the response pattern to peptides covering the 89-101 show stimulatory capacity for 5 adjacent peptides (N terminal 87-96 through to 95-104) reflecting the presence of at least two (and perhaps three) distinct epitopes.
  • MBP Peptide 92-98 is a Cryptic Epitope
  • TCL three epitope-specific T cell lines
  • All three TCL respond to the peptide (89-101) but only the 89-94 and 95-101-specific TCL respond to whole MBP.
  • antigen processing of intact MBP preferentially generates ligands for T cells recognising 89-94 and 95-101 but not those recognising 92-98.
  • the 92-98 epitope is cryptic (i.e. cannot be generated by processing of native antigen).
  • MBP 89-101 peptide can partake in three distinct interactions with the MHC molecule resulting in peptide/MHC ligands which are recognised by three separate T cell populations. Processing of MBP however only generates ligands for two of these T cell populations (see FIG. 14).
  • Induction of EAE requires T cell recognition of autoantigenic epitopes expressed in the CNS as a result of degradation of intact MBP.
  • Immunisation of mice with peptides comprising only one of the three previously identified T cell epitopes shows that only those containing a naturally processed epitope (89-94 or 95-101) are capable of inducing EAE. This further supports the finding that 92-98 is a cryptic epitope.
  • MBP Peptide 92-98 is the Dominant Epitope for MBP Region 89-101
  • the region 89-101 contains three distinct but overlapping peptides. Of these, peptide 92-98 appears to be dominant for this region. For example, when T cell clones are generated from mice primed with the 89-101 peptide, all six clones which were generated respond to the 92-98. Using 89-101 analog peptides containing individual alanine substitutions at each position, it has been found that substitution of any of the positions 92-98 leads to a lack of responsiveness, showing that alteration of any residues within the 92-98 core has gross effects on recognition of this epitope.
  • MBP Peptide 89-101 Fails to Tolerize EAE-Relevant T Cells Recognising a Naturally Processed MBP Epitope.
  • the present inventors have found that a) the 89-101 sequence has the potential to generate 3 distinct T cell epitopes; b) only two of these epitopes (89-94 and 95-101) are generated by antigen processing of intact MBP (both in vitro and in vivo); c) only peptides containing the naturally processed epitopes and not those containing a cryptic epitope are effective at inducing EAE; d) the 89-101 peptide fails to protect against EAE in peptide therapy experiments.
  • mice received 200 ⁇ g of peptide in PBS or PBS alone intraperitoneally on days ⁇ 8, ⁇ 6 and ⁇ 4 prior to 100 ⁇ g of peptide in complete Freunds adjuvant on day 0.
  • draining lymph node cells (6 ⁇ 10 5 per well) were cultured in X-Vivo 15 medium supplemented with 5 ⁇ 10 ⁇ 5 M 2-mercaptoethanol and 2M L-glutamine with or without antigen for 72 hours. Cultures were pulsed for the final 16 hours with 0.5 ⁇ Ci H. thymidine and incorporation measured using a liquid scintillation counter. Results are expressed as means counts per minute for triplicate cultures.
  • the present inventors believe that the obsevrations can be explained by the position of peptide 89-101 in the MHC peptide binding site. If the peptide preferentially binds so that the region 92-98 is in the peptide-binding pocket, then it will be recognised by MBP92-98-specific T cells. This would explain why, when mice are primed with the MBP89-101 peptide, all the T cell clones generated recognise the MBP92-98 epitope. Equally, when 89-101 is used to tolerise T cells, it will mainly tolerise cells which recognise the MBP92-98 epitope.
  • MBP92-98 is a cryptic epitope, it is not generated by natural processing of the whole antigen and T-cells recognising this epitope will probably not exist in vivo. Even if an MBP92-98-specific T cells cell did exist in vivo, it would not be relevant to the disease. Hence, 89-101 fails to prevent EAE induced with whole MBP.
  • Peptide 83-99 of MBP is tested in the Fug/D6 transgenic mouse which expresses both the appropriate HLA-DR2 class 11 MHC molecule and a TCR from a human T cell clone specific for this peptide.
  • Mice are treated with peptide following either the standard dose used for treatment of the Tg4 transgenic mouse (Tg4 protocol) or the desensitisation protocol of peptide dose escalation which has been used in treatment of patients suffering from allergy (Desensitisation protocol).
  • Tg4 protocol Groups of mice are treated by intranasal administration of peptide 83-99 (4 mg/ml in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)) or PBS alone in a total volume of 25 ⁇ l. Mice are treated every 1 st and 5 th day of the week for 5 weeks giving a total of 10 doses. At the beginning of week 6 each mouse is injected with peptide 83-99 in Complete Freunds Adjuvant (CFA) and also receives an IP injection of Pertussis Toxin (200 ng) on day 1 and 3. The progression of EAE is monitored for at least 30 days.
  • CFA Complete Freunds Adjuvant
  • Desensitisation protocol Groups of mice are treated by intranasal administration of an escalating dose of peptide 83-99 or PBS alone in a total vlume of 25 ⁇ l. The dose escalation starts at 0.1 ⁇ g and proceed through 1, 3, 6, 12, 50 and then three times 100 ⁇ g. Mice are treated every 1 st and 5 th day of the week for 5 weeks giving a total of 10 doses. At the beginning of week 6 each mouse is injected with peptide 83-99 in Complete Freunds Adjuvant (CFA) and also receives an IP injection of Pertussis Toxin (200 ng) on day 1 and 3. The progression of EAE is monitored for at least 30 days.
  • CFA Complete Freunds Adjuvant
  • a vaccine is made comprising the MBP peptides 30-44, 83-99, 110-124 and 130-144 (i.e. some of those epitopes of MBP which have been identified as apitopes).
  • the vaccine is given to thirty-five patients in a Phase Ia/Ib trial.
  • the trial is a single crossover trial in which patients remain untreated for three months followed by a single dose of peptide (Ia). Patients are then monitored for three months following the single dose of vaccine to assess safety.
  • Treatment then consists of twice weekly administration by intranasal deposition. For each patient: clinical activity is analysed monthly by magnetic resonance imaging; immunological acitivity is monitored using a kinetic response assay for proliferation; and cytokine production is monitored using a cell-based ELISA.
  • the trial initially involves treatment of 5 patients suffering from chronic progressive (CP) disease. These patients are selected on the basis of low MRI activity and are treated first with the highest dose of peptides. Treatment is started in the CP patient group because they are most likely to demonstrate any possible harmful effects as evidenced by an increase in MRI activity. Treatment of relapsing remitting patients begins once it is clear that the both single and multiple dose treatment is safe in the CP group. A larger group of 30 relapsing remitting patients are recruited on the basis of their suffering enhancing MRI lesions during a monitoring period of 3 months. These are divided into three groups to be treated with a high, medium or low dose of peptide.
  • CP chronic progressive
  • APC antigen presenting cells
  • MHC major histocompatability complex
  • TCR T cell receptor
  • EAE experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
  • APITOPE antigen processing independent epitope
  • APIPS antigen processing independent presentation system
  • aa amino acid
  • MS Multiple Sclerosis
  • MBP myelin basic protein
  • PLP proteolipid protein
  • TCL T cell line
  • TCC T cell clone
  • PBMC peripheral blood mononuclear cells
  • PPD Mycobacterium tuberculosis purified Protein derivative
  • PHA phytohemagglutinin
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