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

Epitope mapping of humoral immunogenicity of orvacabtagene autoleucel shows an IgM response with minimal impact on CAR T cellular kinetics

Liu, Xianghong; Hu, Hongxiang; Dai, Yanshan; Pazos, Michael; Gokemeijer, Jochem; Ogasawara, Ken; Stoevesandt, Oda; Stadler, Volker; Mora, Johanna; Jawa, Vibha
Mol Ther Adv.
May 2026
Orvacabtagene autoleucel (orva-cel) is a fully human B cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy evaluated in a phase 1/2 study in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM). To assess treatment-related immunogenicity, anti-CAR therapeutic domain-specific antibodies (ATAs) were monitored in 157 treated patients. The ATAs were detected in 44.6% of patients over the course of study, with titers and incidence increasing over time. The goal of this study was to further characterize the observed immune response. The ATA status did not affect CAR T cell expansion or patient survival outcomes, though reduced persistence was observed in ATA-positive patients. Comprehensive immune profiling—including isotype analysis and B cell epitope mapping—identified five immunodominant consensus peptide sequences within the CAR domain. These epitopes were targeted by both Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and Immunoglobulin M (IgM) isotypes, with a persistent IgM response detected in most ATA-positive individuals. Despite the presence of ATAs, no adverse impact on cellular expansion was observed, potentially due to lymphodepletion and baseline immune suppression characteristic of B cell malignancies. These data suggest that the limited functional T- and B-cell capacity in RRMM may attenuate the clinical consequences of ATA development. The in vitro immunogenicity risk assessment and epitope mapping identified immunogenic hotspots within the CAR structure, which could have led to the high incidence of immune response observed in the patients. However, the analysis from this study points to a weak clinically non-relevant nature of the response that could be attributed to the patient’s immune status and diseased state.

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
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.

Single-Molecule Detection on a Protein-Array Assay Platform for the Exposure of a Tuberculosis Antigen

Schmidt, Ronny; Jacak, Jaroslaw; Schirwitz, Christopher; Stadler, Volker; Michel, Gerd; Marmé, Nicole; Schütz, Gerhard J.; Hoheisel, Jörg D.; Knemeyer, Jens-Peter
J. Proteome Res..
Jan 2011

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