Design and development of synthetic peptide antigens

Using hydrophilicity, surface probability, backbone flexibility and secondary structure parameters, antigenic sites of B-thymosins (TB), ubiquitin and gp41 envelope glycoprotein fragments of HIV-1 are determined. Corresponding antigenic sites of TB4, TB9, ubiquitin and gp41 (583-623) are produced either by tryptic cleavage from the natural peptides or by solid phase peptide synthesis (Fmoc/Bu(t) strategy, Ecosyn P batch synthesizer, Eppendorf/Biotronik, Maintal, Germany). The predicted antigenic fragments allow the generation of specific antibodies for the determination of body fluid or tissue levels and immunostaining experiments, or, in the case of gp41-HIV fragments, the antigens can be used directly for the diagnosis of AIDS patients.