PREPARATION OF A MULTIPLE ANTIGEN GLYCOPEPTIDE (MAG) CARRYING THE TN ANTIGEN - A POSSIBLE APPROACH TO A SYNTHETIC CARBOHYDRATE VACCINE

The glycosidic tumor-associated Tn antigen was conjugated to a lysine backbone containing a helper T-cell epitope in order to activate Immun e responses specific for some types of carcinomas. As opposed to tradi tional protein conjugates, this multiple antigen glycopeptide (MAG) of fers the advantages of the lack of immunogenicity of the polylysine co re and of accurate chemical definition. The MAG construction was assem bled bf conventional solid-phase peptide synthesis. The analysis of it s antigenicity demonstrated that the Tn antigen on the MAG is recogniz ed by Tn-specific monoclonal antibodies. (C) Munksgaard 1997.