Prediction of antigenic determinants and secondary structures of the major AIDS virus proteins

Criteria for the design of peptide vaccines to prevent AIDS are presented. The best vaccine candidates contain both B and T lymphocyte-defined epitopes in regions conserved in sequence between viral isolates. We propose that attention should focus on proteins specified by the gag and, possibly, pol genes in addition to the env gene envelope glycoproteins being actively studied. The predictions of B- and T-epitopes are refined by consideration of secondary structure prediction and inter-isolate sequence variability to suggest peptides from env, gag and pol that would be the best vaccine candidates.