Compositions for and methods of identifying antigens
AssigneePresident and Fellows of Harvard College
InventorsDarren E. Higgins, Michael N. Starnbach, Todd Gierahn, Nadia R. Roan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Replicable libraries having discrete members in defined locations for screening for antigens to a pathogenic organism are provided. Also provided are methods for using such libraries as well as a specific antigen, CT788, which induces T-cell activation during a Chlamydia infection.
Claims27
A method of determining whether a member of a library contains or encodes an immunogenic polypeptide, wherein said library comprises at least 20 discrete members in defined locations and said members each comprise a cell or virus comprising a pre-determined open reading frame of a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide, or a portion thereof, differentially expressed in a neoplastic cell as compared to the corresponding normal cell, said pre-predetermined open reading frame operably linked to a promoter,
- said method comprising:
- (a) individually contacting a member of said library with a second cell capable of (i) endocytosing said cell or said virus and (ii) displaying a polypeptide encoded by said pre-determined open reading frame on its surface through the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I pathway;
- (b) individually contacting said second cell from step (a) with a cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) cell derived from a mammal having, or having previously had, a neoplasm;
- and
- (c) detecting whether said CTL cell is activated, wherein activation of said CTL cell indicates that said member of said library contains said pre-determined open reading frame which encodes at least a portion of said immunogenic polypeptide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.