Epitope | German Center for Infection Research

Short description

An epitope is a small area (molecular segment) on the surface of an antigen that can elicit a specific immune response.

Synonyms

antigenic determinant

Detailed description

Antibodies or T cells of the immune system bind specifically to a certain site of the antigen, which is called an epitope. This binding site is crucial for the specific immune response.

Dec 2024

Science Advances

Epitope-focused immunogens targeting the hepatitis C virus glycoproteins induce broadly neutralizing antibodies

Autoren

Kumar Nagarathinam et al.

Electron micrograph of a hepatitis C virus particle.

Vaccine research: new hope in the fight against hepatitis C

The development of an effective vaccine against the hepatitis C virus has been an enormous challenge for decades due to the high genetic diversity of the virus. The research team led by DZIF scientist

Aug 2024

Cell Genom

Predicting T cell receptor functionality against mutant epitopes

Autoren

Drost F et al.

Aug 2024

Mol Cell Proteomics

optiPRM: A Targeted Immunopeptidomics LC-MS Workflow With Ultra-High Sensitivity for the Detection of Mutation-Derived Tumor Neoepitopes From Limited Input Material

Autoren

Salek M et al.

Jun 2024

Hla

Engineered HCMV-infected APCs enable the identification of new immunodominant HLA-restricted epitopes of anti-HCMV T-cell immunity

Autoren

Santamorena MM et al.

Jan 2024

J Infect Dis

Identification of a spike-specific CD8+ T cell epitope following vaccination against the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in humans

Autoren

Harrer CE et al.

Cryo-electron microscopic reconstruction of molecular structures: On the left, the vertical representation of the binding of a yellow-coloured antibody to the blue-coloured tip of the secretion system shown in grey. On the right, a top view of the binding structure, showing how the yellow antibody binds laterally to the blue tip of the secretion system, which is round in top view.

Neutralising antibodies that target resistant bacteria

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a major challenge to healthcare systems worldwide. Due to numerous resistance mechanisms, infections with the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa are particularly feared

May 2023

Immunity

Recruitment of epitope-specific T cell clones with a low-avidity threshold supports efficacy against mutational escape upon re-infection

Autoren

Straub A et al.

May 2023

Pathogens

Individual Epitope-Specific CD8(+) T Cell Immune Responses Are Shaped Differently during Chronic Viral Infection

Autoren

Klein S et al.

Schematic representation of a liver (in brown-orange) surrounded by round virus particles and blood cells (in white-gray).

A promising investigational therapeutic monoclonal antibody to treat chronic hepatitis B and D infections

Affecting hundreds of millions of people, chronic hepatitis B is a widespread global health problem for which there is as yet no cure. In a preclinical study involving the German Center for Infection