Epitope mapping: synthetic approaches to the understanding of molecular recognition in the immune system

Progress in the field of immunochemistry is rapidly increasing due to very efficient methods of epitope mapping. Experimental results on the allele-specific sequence motifs of MHC-binding peptides allow the exact forecast of T-cell epitopes and, in combination with B-cell prediction methods and synthetic adjuvant systems, fully synthetic vaccines may be constructed. Methods of multiple peptide synthesis are of particular use for such constructs and for the fine mapping of monoclonal antibodies or sera of patients. Peptide libraries, containing hundred thousands of different oligopeptides are made available for novel screening procedures. These techniques and their applications in various fields are summarized and discussed with respect to efficiency and productivity.