title: Immune epitope mapping in the post-genomic era: lessons for vaccine development.
abstract: Technological advances have allowed for the creation of ever more complete maps of targets of immune responses in infectious pathogens. The evidence accumulating from such recent studies points to a broader range of targets recognized than previously expected, in terms of both numbers and characteristics of the targeted antigens. Also, multiple studies report a substantial variation in the targets recognized in different human individuals. These findings are not in conflict with the concept of immunodominance, because there are still only a few targets recognized compared with the multitude of potential targets available in a complex pathogen. However, they raise the question if vaccines, which try to emulate protective natural immune responses, should elicit an equally broad range of responses to efficiently convey protection.
authors.affiliation: La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, Division of Vaccine Discovery, 9420 Athena Circle, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. alex@liai.org
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sette
authors.forename: Bjoern
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peters
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D014612:Vaccines / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D014612:Vaccines