Clementi Nicola, Mancini Nicasio, Criscuolo Elena, Cappelletti Francesca, Clementi Massimo, Burioni Roberto
Microbiology and Virology Unit, "Vita-Salute" San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.
Methods Mol Biol. 2014;1131:427-46. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-992-5_26.
The fine characterization of protective B cell epitopes plays a pivotal role in the development of novel vaccines. The development of epitope-based vaccines, in fact, cannot be possible without a clear definition of the antigenic regions involved in the binding between the protective antibody (Ab) and its molecular target. To achieve this result, different epitope-mapping approaches have been widely described (Clementi et al. Drug Discov Today 18(9-10):464-471, 2013). Nowadays, the best way to characterize an Ab bound region is still the resolution of Ab-antigen (Ag) co-crystal structure. Unfortunately, the crystallization approaches are not always feasible. However, different experimental strategies aimed to predict Ab-Ag interaction and followed by in silico analysis of the results may be good surrogate approaches to achieve this result. Here, we review few experimental techniques followed by the use of "basic" informatics tools for the analysis of the results.
保护性B细胞表位的精细表征在新型疫苗的研发中起着关键作用。事实上，如果不能明确保护性抗体（Ab）与其分子靶点结合所涉及的抗原区域，基于表位的疫苗研发就不可能实现。为了实现这一目标，已经广泛描述了不同的表位作图方法（Clementi等人，《今日药物发现》18(9 - 10):464 - 471，2013年）。如今，表征Ab结合区域的最佳方法仍然是解析Ab - 抗原（Ag）共晶体结构。不幸的是，结晶方法并非总是可行的。然而，旨在预测Ab - Ag相互作用并随后对结果进行计算机分析的不同实验策略可能是实现这一目标的良好替代方法。在这里，我们回顾了一些实验技术以及用于结果分析的“基础”信息学工具的使用。
