Preparation of polypeptides comprising multiple TAA peptides.

Polypeptides consisting of multiple tumor-associated antigen epitopes (multiepitope peptides) are commonly used as therapeutic peptide cancer vaccines in experimental studies and clinical trials. These methods include polypeptides composed of multiple major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted cytotoxic T cell (CTL) epitopes and those containing multiple CTL epitopes and one T helper (Th) epitope. This chapter describes a complete set of methods for preparing multiepitope peptides and branched multiple antigen peptides (MAPs), including sequence design, peptide synthesis, purification, preservation, and the preparation of polypeptide solutions.