title: MHC-peptide specificity and T-cell epitope mapping: where immunotherapy starts.
abstract: The evaluation and characterization of epitope-specific human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-restricted memory T-cell reactivity is an important step for the development of preventive vaccines and peptide-based immunotherapies for viral and tumor diseases. The past decade has witnessed the use of HLA-restricted peptides as tools to activate strong immune responses of naïve or memory T cells specifically. This has fuelled an active search for methodological approaches focusing on HLA and peptide associations. Here, we outline new perspective on the emerging opportunity of evaluating HLA and peptide restriction by using novel approaches, such as quantitative real-time PCR, that can identify epitope specificities that are potentially useful in clinical settings.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Surgical Research and Hospital Management, University of Basel, 4031 Basel, Switzerland. mprovenzano@uhbs.ch
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Provenzano
authors.forename: Monica C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Panelli
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mocellin
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bracci
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sais
authors.forename: David F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Stroncek
authors.forename: Giulio C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Spagnoli
authors.forename: Francesco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Marincola
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation / Q000276:immunology; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology*; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008285:Major Histocompatibility Complex; D008954:Models, Biological; D010455:Peptides / Q000276:immunology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D006680:HLA Antigens; D010455:Peptides