Patent ID: 7846446

Claim:
A purified peptide of 12-50 amino acid residues comprising an antigenic stratum corneum chymotryptic enzyme (SCCE) sequence of 12-50 amino acid residues; wherein when the purified peptide is contacted with dendritic cells to generate peptide-loaded dendritic cells and the peptide-loaded dendritic cells are contacted with T cells, the peptide-loaded dendritic cells amplify CD4+ T cells (helper T cells) that recognize the SCCE sequence; wherein the antigenic SCCE sequence is SEQ ID NO:15 (residues 1-23 of SCCE), SEQ ID NO:16 (residues 61-84), SEQ ID NO:17 (residues 143-160), or a fragment thereof that comprises at least 12 consecutive amino acid residues of SEQ ID NO:15, at least 12 consecutive amino acid residues of SEQ ID NO:16, or at least 12 consecutive amino acid residues of SEQ ID NO:17.