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Discover how PEPperPRINT Peptide Microarray products have been used in different fields of research.

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Characterization of antibodies against the replication protein (Rep) encoded by bovine meat and milk factors (BMMFs)

Frehtman, Veronika; Shukla, Gunjan; Gentz, Michael; Müller, Marcus; Duduyemi, Oladimeji Paul; Grewe, Imke; Ernst, Claudia; Tessmer, Claudia; Didier, Andrea; Hofmann, Ilse; Bund, Timo; Leuchs, Barbara
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol.
Apr 2026
10.1007/s00253-026-13809-x
Abstract Bovine Meat and Milk Factors (BMMFs) are DNA elements with similarity to bacterial plasmids, are frequently identified in bovine meat and milk and were proposed to contribute to cancer development. All known BMMFs encode a conserved replication protein (Rep), allowing for histologic BMMF detection in clinical specimens based on Rep-directed mouse monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), which, however, have only been partially characterized so far. Here, 20 anti-BMMF Rep antibodies were assessed for biophysical properties, reactivity, specificity and binding sensitivity to five distinct BMMF Reps and other prokaryotic/eukaryotic target antigens using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based anti-BMMF Rep antibody binding assay. We demonstrated sensitive and specific antibody reaction with their respective Rep targets, according to the antibody immunization. Consensus antibodies raised against defined peptides of conserved Rep amino acid stretches interacted with most of the Rep antigens. Antibodies produced based on immunization with the Rep encoded on the BMMF isolate H1MSB.1, including rabbit and human chimeric variants, reacted only with the cognate H1MSB.1 Rep, with only two outliers targeting additional Reps. Completely new antibodies raised against the Rep of another isolate (C1HB.4) specifically detected the cognate C1HB.4 Rep antigen – not interacting with other Reps. New antibodies generated by triple Rep immunization (H1MSB.2/C1MI.3M.1/C1MI.9M.1 Rep) reacted to either all three or two immunization antigens without interacting with any other Reps. None of the antibodies cross-reacted against Reps of bacteria occurring during milk production or lysates of mammalian hosts. Competitive inhibition confirmed antigen-specificity across the antibody panel, which additionally did not show aberrancies concerning purity or antibody size for the majority of the tested Abs. These findings authenticate a highly specific panel of anti-BMMF Rep antibodies, which can serve as tools for BMMF detection in cancer and chronic diseases.**Key Points** • Anti-BMMF Rep antibodies are important to judge BMMFs’ role as cancer risk factors. • Selective binding of anti-BMMF Rep antibodies to BMMF Rep antigens. • No cross-reactivity of anti-BMMF Rep antibodies with bacterial and mammalian outgroup specimens.

Integrated reiterative pipeline for rapid epitope-based pan-alphavirus vaccines

Versiani, Alice F.; McCaffrey, Peter; Ribeiro-Filho, Helder V.; Silva, Natalia I. O.; Lopes-de-Oliveira, Paulo S.; Carrera, Jean-Paul; Nogueira, Mauricio L.; Marques, Rafael E.; Rossi, Shannan L.; Vasilakis, Nikos
Sci Adv.
Mar 2026
10.1126/sciadv.aeb2066
The vast diversity of the virosphere underscores the need for rapid, adaptable vaccine development infrastructures. Arthropod-borne zoonotic alphaviruses, in particular, continue to pose substantial threats to human and animal health. We present a fast, multitarget vaccine design pipeline integrating machine learning-based epitope prediction, protein modeling, and docking to prioritize viral peptides by immunogenicity, allele coverage, solubility, and stability. T cell epitopes were validated using peptide microarrays and molecular dynamics simulations, confirming receptor binding accuracy. Flow cytometry of murine and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells demonstrated robust T cell activation and cytokine secretion (IFN-γ, TNF-α, or IL-2), dependent on species and HLA allele. Final candidates were selected by composite immunogenicity scores. While this study primarily validates the T cell-specific arm of our predictive pipeline, complementary B cell epitope analyses are ongoing. Our findings support the development of broadly protective pan-alphaviral vaccines and the establishment of efficient, tunable processes for global vaccine development.

Identification of a conformational epitope on the E antigen implicated in anti-E alloimmunization

Matsuura, Hideaki; Yamada, Ayuna; Doi, Hiroki; Fujii, Sumie; Miura, Yasuo
Blood Adv.
Mar 2026
10.1182/bloodadvances.2025018046

Selective Targeting of Tip Endothelial Cells as a Therapeutic Strategy for Tumor Angiogenesis

Kim, Byoungmo; Lee, Ha Kyeong; Azam, Zulfikar; Choi, Jeong Uk; Wahab, Riajul; Lee, Na Kyeong; Ko, Yoon Gun; Choi, So‐Young; Lee, Se‐Ra; Shim, Wan Seob; Kim, Taeeung; Kim, In‐San; Alam, Farzana; Kim, Sang Yoon; Kim, Seong Who; Byun, Youngro; Al‐Hilal, Taslim A
Advanced Science.
Mar 2026
10.1002/advs.202512975
ABSTRACT Tip endothelial cells (TipEC), the leading edge of angiogenic sprouts, are essential for pathological neo‐vascularization but remain difficult to target due to the lack of specific druggable markers. Here, we identify Doppel as a selective and druggable regulator of endothelial tip cell function. Doppel expression enhances TipEC selection, directional migration, and regulates tip‐stalk cell dynamics by spatially controlling VEGFR2/Dll4/Src pathway. Genetic ablation of PRND (Doppel) reduces tip cell formation without affecting the stalk cells (StalkECs) number in tumors, indicating its selective role in TipECs. Importantly, depletion of TipECs using the first‐in‐class monoclonal antibodies against a highly conserved WQF‐motif of Doppel robustly decreased the growth of tumors by selectively downregulating VEGFR2+ TipECs but not StalkECs. These findings position Doppel as a tumor TipEC‐specific, druggable target that may offer a new avenue to enhance and refine anti‐angiogenic therapies in cancer treatment.

Clinical outcomes-dependent IgG epitope profiling in HTLV-1 reveals differential recognition of pathogen-derived antigens

Cilento, Natali Espasiani; Borges, João Vitor Da Silva; Machado, Nicolle Rakanidis; Do Nascimento, Lais Alves; Moreira, Anna Luisa Baratelli; Passos, Lhays Ozório; Santamarina, Aline Boveto; Casseb, Jorge; Sanabani, Sabri Saeed; Victor, Jefferson Russo
Front. Immunol..
Feb 2026
10.3389/fimmu.2026.1755133
Human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection presents a wide clinical spectrum ranging from lifelong asymptomatic carriage to severe inflammatory neurodegeneration (HAM/TSP) or adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL). Although IgG responses contribute to viral control and immunopathology, the extent to which HTLV-1 clinical outcomes shape pathogen-derived IgG repertoires remains unclear. In this study, we applied a high-density infectious-disease epitope microarray containing 4,345 linear epitopes from viral, bacterial, parasitic, and fungal pathogens to profile IgG responses in healthy controls (HCs), asymptomatic carriers (ACs), HAM/TSP patients, and ATLL patients. Signal intensities were quantified in arbitrary units, and recognized epitopes were evaluated using similarity clustering (80% identity threshold) to assess repertoire structure. HTLV-1–infected individuals exhibited extensive remodeling of humoral immunity, with marked differences in the breadth and intensity of IgG recognition across clinical groups. HAM/TSP patients displayed broad and high-magnitude responses consistent with chronic inflammation and heightened Th1 activation, whereas ATLL patients recognized the largest number of epitopes but with distinct patterns indicative of altered B-cell regulation. Enhanced IgG responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Strongyloides stercoralis, Toxoplasma gondii, and Plasmodium species were consistent with known co-infection susceptibilities in HTLV-1. Epitope similarity analysis revealed hundreds of low-redundancy clusters across all groups, arguing against simple linear cross-reactivity and suggesting phenotype-specific reshaping of B-cell selection and idiotypic networks. These findings demonstrate that HTLV-1 infection produces distinct, clinically dependent IgG epitope signatures across multiple pathogen classes, with potential relevance for understanding HTLV-1 pathogenesis and informing future studies integrating epitope mapping with B-cell repertoire analysis.

Non-Neutralizing Antibody Functions Predict Susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 Infection after mRNA Booster Vaccination

Levy, Shlomia; Trifkovic, Sanja; Mielke, Dieter; Oppenheimer, Hannah; Goodman, Derrick; Ostrovsky, Daniel; Sanfield-Oakley, Sherry A.; Brackett, Caroline; Friedman, Lilach M; Kerkau, Melissa; Webby, Richard; Tomaras, Georgia; Guido, Ferrari; Nesher, Lior; Hertz, Tomer
Jan 2026
10.2139/ssrn.6019238
Previous studies have shown that neutralizing and binding antibody titers are correlates of protection for symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. We previously reported that individuals with low IgG and IgA baseline immune history (BIH) to SARS-CoV-2 variants were at increased risk of symptomatic infection in study of healthcare workers that received 3 or 4 doses of the Pfizer BNT-1262b2 vaccine. We also found that 1-month post-vaccination with the 4th booster dose, individuals with low-BIH mounted significant rises in binding and neutralizing antibody titers, to levels comparable to those of individuals with high-BIH, demonstrating that their increased risk was not due to inability to respond to vaccination. To further study the underlying factors that are associated with increased risk, we conducted a systems serology study of 40 low-BIH and 40 high-BIH individuals across 7 months of follow-up. We found that individuals with low BIH exhibited a significantly higher risk of symptomatic infection (HR=2.691, p=0.0065) and mounted weaker IgA and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) responses compared to high-BIH individuals, particularly against Omicron and Delta variants. Baseline levels of the chemokine CXCL-11 were elevated in the low-BIH group. We then showed that baseline immune profiles can be used to train a prediction model of infection risk across 7 months of follow-up with 76% accuracy. IgA, ADCC and ADCP baseline features were dominant predictors of susceptibility. Our findings suggest that non-neutralizing antibody functions, especially IgA and ADCC, contribute to protection against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection and that serology-guided stratification can enhance discovery of immune correlates of risk informing future vaccine design and deployment strategies.

Compounds and Methods Targeting Interleukin-19

Higgs Jr., Richard Earl; Konrad, Robert John; Nickoloff, Brian Jeffrey; Siegel II, Robert William; Mertz, Prema Maria
Nov 2020
The present invention provides compounds and methods targeting human interleukin-19, including therapeutic antibodies, pharmaceutical compositions and diagnostic applications useful in the field of immune-mediated diseases including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, psoriatic arthritis, bronchial asthma and diabetic nephropathy.

SARS-CoV-2 epitope mapping on microarrays highlights strong immune-response to N protein region

Musicò, Angelo; Frigerio, Roberto; Mussida, Alessandro; Barzon, Luisa; Sinigaglia, Alessandro; Riccetti, Silvia; Gobbi, Federico; Piubelli, Chiara; Bergamaschi, Greta; Chiari, Marcella; Gori, Alessandro; Cretich, Marina
Nov 2020
10.1101/2020.11.09.374082

Abstract

A workflow for SARS-CoV-2 epitope discovery on peptide microarrays is herein reported. The process started with a proteome-wide screening of immunoreactivity based on the use of a high-density microarray followed by a refinement and validation phase on a restricted panel of probes using microarrays with tailored peptide immobilization through a click-based strategy. Progressively larger, independent cohorts of Covid-19 positive sera were tested in the refinement processes, leading to the identification of immunodominant regions on SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S), Nucleocapsid (N) protein and Orf1ab polyprotein. A summary study testing 50 serum samples highlighted an epitope of the N protein (region 155-171) providing 92% sensitivity and 100% specificity of IgG detection in Covid-19 samples thus being a promising candidate for rapid implementation in serological tests.

Generation of Chicken IgY against SARS-COV-2 Spike Protein and Epitope Mapping

Lu, Yan; Wang, Yajun; Zhang, Zhen; Huang, Jingliang; Yao, Meicun; Huang, Guobin; Ge, Yuanyuan; Zhang, Peichun; Huang, Huaxin; Wang, Yong; Li, Huiliang; Wang, Wen
Oct 2020
This new decade has started with a global pandemic of COVID-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), precipitating a worldwide health crisis and economic downturn. Scientists and clinicians have been racing against time to find therapies for COVID-19. Repurposing approved drugs, developing vaccines and employing passive immunization are three major therapeutic approaches to fighting COVID-19. Chicken immunoglobulin Y (IgY) has the potential to be used as neutralizing antibody against respiratory infections, and its advantages include high avidity, low risk of adverse immune responses, and easy local delivery by intranasal administration. In this study, we raised antibody against the spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 in chickens and extracted IgY (called IgY-S) from egg yolk. IgY-S exhibited high immunoreactivity against SARS-CoV-2 S, and by epitope mapping, we found five linear epitopes of IgY-S in SARS-CoV-2 S, two of which are cross-reactive with SARS-CoV S. Notably, epitope SIIAYTMSL, one of the identified epitopes, partially overlaps the S1/S2 cleavage region in SARS-CoV-2 S and is located on the surface of S trimer in 3D structure, close to the S1/S2 cleavage site. Thus, antibody binding at this location could physically block the access of proteolytic enzymes to S1/S2 cleavage site and thereby impede S1/S2 proteolytic cleavage, which is crucial to subsequent virus-cell membrane fusion and viral cell entry. Therefore, the feasibility of using IgY-S or epitope SIIAYTMS-specific IgY as neutralizing antibody for preventing or treating SARS-CoV-2 infection is worth exploring.

Ns2b as Marker for Zika Virus Infections

Jaenisch, Thomas; Fischer, Nico; Loeffler, Felix; Sekul, Renate; Stadler, Volker; Marques, Ernesto T. A.; Lucas, Zachariah
Oct 2020
The present invention relates to protein NS2b or fragment(s) thereof as biomarker or diagnostic marker for the diagnosis and/or prognosis of Zika virus infections. The present invention further relates to peptides and cyclic peptides, compositions and arrays and multimer compounds comprising them. The present invention further relates to a method for the diagnosis and/or prognosis of Zika virus infections, comprising the use of protein NS2b or fragment(s) thereof, or of the peptides, cyclic peptides, compositions and/or arrays in immunoassays. The present invention further relates to peptide-based compounds comprising at least one fragment of protein NS2b and at least one further component and to methods for the diagnosis and/or prognosis of Zika virus infections.

Monoclonal Antibodies to Growth and Differentiation Factor 15 (gdf-15), and Uses Thereof for Treating Cancer Cachexia and Cancer

Wischhusen, Jörg; Junker, Markus; Schäfer, Tina; Pühringer, Dirk; Lucas, Zachariah
Oct 2020
The present invention relates to monoclonal anti-human-GDF-15 antibodies. The antibodies include chimeric anti-bodies and humanized antibodies. The invention also relates to monoclonal anti-human-GDF-15 antibodies including murine anti-bodies, chimeric antibodies and humanized antibodies for use in methods for the treatment of cancer cachexia and also for the treatment of cancer. The invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions, kits, methods and uses and cell lines capable of producing the monoclonal antibodies of the invention.

Novel Anti-Cd40 Antibodies and Use Thereof

Park, Chung Gyu; Kim, Jung Sik; Lucas, Zachariah
Sep 2020
The present invention relates to novel anti-CD40 antibodies and a use thereof and, more specifically, provided are a pharmaceutical composition for treating or preventing autoimmune diseases and a composition for inhibiting immune rejection during organ transplantation, both compositions containing, as an active ingredient, novel anti-CD40 antibodies that specifically bind to a novel epitope of CD40. Novel anti-CD40 antibodies of the present invention directly target CD40, but not CD40 ligands, and block the signaling of CD40-CD154 without stimulating platelets so as to exhibit excellent antagonistic effects, thereby being expected to be usable as a preparation effective in the treatment of autoimmune diseases and the inhibition of organ transplantation rejection.

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