ABSTRACT
For most o f the history o f vaccine production, the development o f a new vaccine involved producing inactivated organisms or crude components o f the pathogen. There is now generally a need to develop more precisely defined and novel vaccines against cancers and some pathogens (e.g., HIV), for which traditional approaches are unavailable or do not work well. With developments in recombinant D N A technology and cell biology, it is possible to dissect out the epitopes from the tumor cells and pathogens recognized by B-and T-cell receptors. These regions may be essential and effective for eliciting protective responses through neutralizing antibodies and T cell mediated immunity. This chapter will deal with the different peptide-based immunization strategies and their characteristics.
