High Throughput T Epitope Mapping and Vaccine Development

Figure 2

Epitope mapping with peptide matrices. As an example, a panel of 100 peptides is considered. Instead of being tested individually, peptides can be arranged in a matrix of 10 vertical pools (V1-V10) and 10 horizontal pools (H11-H20). The left panel depicts an unambiguous identification. In fact, if peptide 44 only is antigenic, pools V4 and H15 are stimulatory (arrows), thereby pointing at the relevant peptide at the intersection. The right panel depicts an ambiguous identification. In fact, if V2-V7 and H12-H7 pools are stimulatory (arrows), all peptides in the shaded area can be antigenic, but the same result would be obtained if only peptides 12,23,34,45,56,67 were antigenic. Therefore, the intersections of the stimulatory pools could indicate from a minimum of 6 to a maximum of 36 antigenic peptides. This ambiguity would require an additional deconvolution step in which individual peptides identified by the intersection area are individually tested.