Synthetic peptide combinatorial libraries (SPCLs): identification of the antigenic determinant of beta-endorphin recognized by monoclonal antibody 3E7.

The use of synthetic peptide combinatorial libraries (SPCLs), each composed of tens of millions of peptides, is described here for the identification of bioactive peptides. The identification of optimal peptide sequences is achieved through the screening of SPCLs in solution, each element of which is composed of more than 10(5) nonsupport-bound peptides in approximately equimolar representation, along with an iterative synthesis and screening process. Using an SPCL composed in total of 52 128 400 nonacetylated hexapeptides, along with an iterative selection process based on competitive ELISA, we identified the antigenic determinant of beta-endorphin recognized by monoclonal antibody (mAb) 3E7. These results will be compared with the results found by others investigating mAb 3E7 using different peptide library approaches.