ABSTRACT
Apart from an appreciation of the importance that short peptide sequences play in the induction of immunity, a number of technical advances have contributed to the feasibility of designing totally synthetic vaccines. Long sequences of amino acids can now be synthesized with confidence using modern synthesizers, including those that make use of microwave technology to facilitate coupling reactions (9). These instruments now make the synthesis of small proteins (60 amino acids) feasible. Chemoselective ligation procedures (10-21) allow synthetic peptide modules to be ligated, producing multimeric immunogens. The ability to assemble multivalent antigens allows us to incorporate different epitopes from multiple serotypes of pathogens as well as series of epitopes that cover the polymorphic class I and class II molecules of the major histocompatibility complexes (MHCs) within the target species.
