Peptide antigens and anti-peptide antibodies are widely used in biochemistry and molecular biology for the measurement, location, and purification of specific oligopeptides. More recently the application of these reagents has expanded, for example in the identification and mapping of the binding sites of antibodies and T-cell receptors and in the identification and characterization of proteins which are known only by their primary structure. This volume provides practical guidance to the major techniques used in the exploitation of peptide antigens and anti-peptide antibodies. The chapters give detailed protocols for the prediction of epitopes, peptides synthesis, the preparation of peptide immunogens, immunoaffinity chromatography, immunoassays, and the mapping of epitopes using both synthetic peptides and phage display systems. Peptide Antigens: A Practical Approach covers all practical aspects of this important and growing subject. It is a unique compendium of methods for workers in biochemistry, molecular biology, and immunology who need to use this technology in their research.

The Janeway's Immunobiology CD-ROM, Immunobiology Interactive, is included with each book, and can be purchased separately. It contains animations and videos with voiceover narration, as well as the figures from the text for presentation purposes.

The Novartis Foundation Series is a popular collection of the proceedings from Novartis Foundation Symposia, in which groups of leading scientists from a range of topics across biology, chemistry and medicine assembled to present papers and discuss results. The Novartis Foundation, originally known as the Ciba Foundation, is well known to scientists and clinicians around the world.

This symposia series, founded in 1976, is devoted to the advancement and dissemination of knowledge in the field in immunology, particularly as it relates to the immune recognition and responses to protein and peptide antigens. Leading investigators are convened every 2 or 3 years for the purpose of consolidating the research on protein and peptide antigens of defined structure and to focus on these findings in the context of contemporary immunology. Each symposium has focussed on a particular aspect of molecular and cellular immunology of proteins and peptides. It is extremely gratifying that, in the last 2-3 years, the scientific community has shown a heightened interest in the study and understanding of protein and peptide antigens. The third symposium was devoted to viral and bacterial antigens. Great advances have been made in recent years in the elucidation and synthesis of protein antigenic sites. These, together with advances in cloning, expression and sequencing of protein genes, have offered new avenues for the preparation of synthetic vaccines for viral, bacterial and other antigens. Such vaccines have been the aspiration of immunologists for over 20 years. The meeting has served to integrate and correlate the current knowledge of these systems with developing trends in immunology and to identify the most promising new directions for future investigations.

The humoral response of the immune system to a foreign antigen usually requires the recognition of two antigenic determinants. The one, called the carrier, is recognized by T-Iymphocytes, the other, called the hapten, by B-Iympho cytes. As a consequence, T - and B-Iymphocytes proliferate, B-Iymphocytes produce hapten-specific antibodies, and the system develops memory to the antigens. It was long thought that antigens would form a bridge to mediate the cooperation of T - and B-Iymphocytes. However, it now appears that antigens are broken down to fragments which then act as carrier determinants for T -lymphocytes. The cells which originally process antigen are called an tigen-presenting cells. They have phagocytic properties. They can take up and degrade antigens, in the case of pro teins to peptides. The peptides of protein antigens reappear on the surface of the antigen-presenting cells, where they must become associated with membrane proteins encoded by genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) in order to be recognized by T-Iymphocytes. To activate helper T-Iym phocytes which cooperate in antibody responses, MHC class II molecules have to be expressed on the surface of the antigen-presenting cells. Once T -lymphocytes have be come activated, they are ready to cooperate with B cells.

This symposium was established in 1976 for the purpose of bringing to gether once every two or three years, active investigators in the fore front of contemporary immunology, to present their findings and to discuss their significance in the light of current concepts and to identify important new directions of investigation. The founding of the symposium was stimulated by the achievement of major breakthroughs in the under standing of the immune recognition of proteins and peptides. We believed that these breakthroughs will lead to the creation of a new generation of peptides which should have enormous potential in biological, therapeutic and basic applications. This anticipated explosion has finally occurred and many applications of these peptides are now being realized. The main symposia topics of the fourth symposium were: T-cell recognition of proteins, structure and function of the T-cell receptor, presentation of protein antigens, recycling and activation of membrane receptor molecules, Ir-gene control of T-cell responses and methods of cell separation. The molecular features recognized by antibodies on proteins were the first immune recognition sites to be local ized and confirmed by synthetic peptides. The complete antigenic structures of several proteins have been defined, and individual antigenic sites have been described on many more proteins. More recently, major breakthroughs have been reported in the immune recognition of proteins by T cells.

This extensive volume covers basic and advanced aspects of peptide antibody production, characterization and uses. Although peptide antibodies have been available for many years, they continue to be a field of active research and method development. For example, peptide antibodies which are dependent on specific posttranslational modifications are of great interest, such as phosphorylation, citrullination and others, while different forms of recombinant peptide antibodies are gaining interest, notably nanobodies, single chain antibodies, TCR-like antibodies, among others. Within this volume, those areas are covered, as well as several technical and scientific advances: solid phase peptide synthesis, peptide carrier conjugation and immunization, genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and elucidation of the molecular basis of antigen presentation and recognition by dendritic cells, macrophages, B cells and T cells. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Comprehensive and authoritative, Peptide Antibodies: Methods and Protocols serves as an ideal reference for researchers exploring this vital and expansive area of study.

This newest edition to the Laboratory Techniques Series gives current state of the art use of synthetic peptides in molecular biology and practical protocols on how to conjugate peptides, immunize animals with peptides and monitor immune responses to peptides in vitro. It gives background information on antigenic specificity, prediction of antigenic sites in proteins and applications of peptides in immunology and virology, as probes in diagnosis and as vaccines. The book also describes antigenicity of proteins and methods to localize antigenic sites as well as methods for predicting epitoxes, and gives detailed protocols for peptide-carrier conjugation, immunization with peptides, and peptide immunoassays. The volume also describes typical use of antipeptide antibodies in molecular and cellular biology as well as the use of peptides in the diagnosis of viral infections and autoimmune diseases, and the use of peptides as potential synthetic vaccines. An excellent edition to an excellent series, available in hardbound and paperback.

Immunological Recognition of Peptides in Medicine and Biology gives a state-of-the-art overview on the use of peptides and peptide-ligand interactions, and the critical role they play in recognition patterns for the regulation of various biological functions. A wide range of applications are discussed, including some experimental preclinical ones such as epitope mapping, peptide libraries, and production of amino acid-specific antibodies and their therapeutic use in oncology and infectious disease vaccines. Each chapter also includes step-by-step protocols to aid in actual experiments. Several alternative techniques and strategies are discussed by different authors offering the reader an opportunity to select the most favorable application for a specific biological problem.