Antigenic and immunogenic properties of synthetic peptide-based T-cell determinant polymers

Presentation of T-cell determinants to the immune system in multimeric form has clear advantages and the production of synthetic peptide-based polymers using the solubilisable KS resin described by Goddard et al. [1] provides a method of assembling such polymers and also offers the means for making heteropolymers. The present study investigates the potential of polymeric synthetic peptide constructs in eliciting proliferative T-cell responses to determinants of the influenza virus hemagglutinin. The induction of vigorous CD4+ T-cell immunity was achieved with a polymeric construct containing two different T-cell determinants. The data presented here also highlight the fact that distancing the determinant from the support backbone with appropriate amino acid residues is an important consideration for the success of these polymeric immunogens. This approach may be readily applied in other systems where induction of helper T-cell responses are required.