Enhanced hiv-1 vaccines and methods for their use
AssigneeThe Government of the United States of America, as represented by The Secretary HHS and NIH of Tec
InventorsJay Berzofsky, Takahiro Okazaki
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Abstract
The present invention provides peptides and proteins for use in second generation HIV vaccines and as diagnostic tools in the treatment and control of HIV infection. The antiviral protection shown by compositions of the present invention has not been previously achieved with an HLA epitope-enhanced vaccine. These findings define a critical balance between MHC affinity and receptor crossreactivity required for effective epitope enhancement and also demonstrate construction and efficacy of such a component of a new generation vaccine.
Claims21
An immunostimulating peptide having an amino acid sequence X1LYQYMDDV, wherein X1 is any hydrophobic amino acid.
A immunostimulating peptide or protein comprising the sequence X1X2YQYMDDVX3 wherein
- X1 is a sequence of amino acid residues of between 0 and 200 residues in length;
- X2 is any hydrophobic amino acid;
- and,
- X3 is a sequence of amino acid residues of between 0 and 200 residues in length.
A medicament comprising a vector including a nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a peptide having the sequence X1LYQYMDDV, wherein X1 is any hydrophobic amino acid, wherein introducing the medicament to a subject results in expression of the nucleic acid, thereby inducing an immune response in the subject directed against an epitope of a product encoded by the nucleic acid.
A method of assessing immune function or diagnosing exposure to HIV-1 for a subject, the method comprising:
- i) contacting a blood sample comprising T cells obtained from the subject with a peptide having an amino acid sequence X1LYQYMDDV, wherein X1 is any hydrophobic amino acid;
- and,
- ii) determining an immune response of the subject's T cells to the peptide.
A fusion molecule comprising an amino acid sequence X1LYQYMDDV, wherein X1 is any hydrophobic amino acid.
A peptide or protein comprising an amino acid sequence X1LYQYMDDV, wherein X1 is any hydrophobic amino acid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.