title: Immunogenicity studies with haptenated melittin peptides: implication for membrane involvement during the recognition step.
abstract: Melittin peptides carrying 2,4-dinitro-6-carboxyphenyl (Dncp) haptenic groups regularly evoked anti-hapten IgG responses in mice or guinea pigs when the hapten was C-terminally attached. Single haptens on the N-terminal helix in several positions gave poor or no responses in the early stages but adequate titres after prolonged immunization. Peptides with Dncp at the C-terminus as an invariant feature and a second Dncp in various positions along the peptide chain did not fail to produce adequate responses. The hampering effect is not due to a defect at the T-cell level but involves the recognition step on the B-cell. It is implied that the haptenic interaction with the paratope of the recognizing immunoglobulin on the B-cell involves the cell membrane in an important way. It is also suggested that late antibody responses should not be overlooked during the development of proteinaceous immunogens for vaccination.
authors.affiliation: University of Bern, Institute of Immunology and Allergology, Inselspital, Switzerland.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Curcio-Vonlanthen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rolli
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D004136:Dinitrobenzenes / Q000276:immunology; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006241:Haptens / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008555:Melitten / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D004136:Dinitrobenzenes; D000939:Epitopes; D006241:Haptens; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D010455:Peptides; D008555:Melitten