Patent ID: 6541210
Filing Date: 2003-04-01
Classification: A61K,C07K,C12N,C40B,Y10S

Abstract:
A method for immunizing an organism comprisinga) producing a peptide that mimics an antigen or a pathogenic organism specific to a disease, comprising the steps of: (i) collecting serum samples from at least two patients whose sera contain antibodies to the antigen or pathogenic organism and from at least one control individual whose serum would not be expected to contain antibodies to the antigen or pathogenic organism; (ii) contacting the antibodies from the serum sample from said first patient with a phage-displayed random peptide library and selecting a first pool of phages which are bound by antibodies present in the serum sample from said first patient; (iii) contacting the phages in said first pool of phages with the antibodies from a serum sample from said second patient and selecting a second group of phages that are bound by antibodies present in samples from both said first patient and from said second patient; (iv) contacting phages from the second group with serum from said control individual to identify phages that are not bound by antibodies contained in the sera from said control individual; and (v) if a phage is bound by antibodies in the sera from at least both said first and second patients but is not bound by antibodies confined in the serum from said control individual, identifying a peptide displayed by said phage and producing said peptide that mimics said antigen or said pathogenic organism to contain the amino acid sequence of said peptide displayed by said phage; and b) administering an effective amount of said peptide to said organism to induce an immune response.