Independent education resourceInformation here does not replace care from a qualified health professional.
Peptide Therapy GuideClear peptide education

Educational guide

Epitope Mapping in Antibody Therapeutics and Vaccine Development: The Evolving Landscape

- Time: Understanding the precise binding sites of antibodies on their target antigens can significantly advance the discovery and development of new therapeutics and vaccines, providing critical insights into mechanisms of action and protection. While there a

Written by Peptide Therapy Guide Editorial Team
For education only

This guide cannot diagnose a condition or recommend a personal treatment plan. Discuss medical questions with a qualified professional.

  • Time:

Understanding the precise binding sites of antibodies on their target antigens can significantly advance the discovery and development of new therapeutics and vaccines, providing critical insights into mechanisms of action and protection. While there are numerous approaches for epitope mapping, comprehensive, high-throughput mutagenesis has emerged as a leading technique for both conformational and linear epitopes that couples high-resolution results with the speed that the biopharmaceutical industry demands.

Epitopes have also become paramount for intellectual property considerations, such as patentability or freedom to operate evaluations. Both patents and regulatory submissions have been strengthened by the knowledge of specific binding site information. However, recent changes to intellectual property and regulatory laws surrounding epitope patentability and biosimilars necessitate adjusting antibody IP strategies.

Our panelists for this webinar will discuss the importance of epitope mapping in drug and vaccine discovery from the scientific as well as the legal perspectives.

Joseph Rucker, Ph.D., VP of R&D at Integral Molecular, will discuss Shotgun Mutagenesis, a high-throughput mutagenesis approach for epitope mapping conformational epitopes on structurally complex proteins such as GPCRs.

James E. Crowe, Jr., M.D., Professor at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, will present his research demonstrating novel mechanisms of action for neutralizing antibodies targeting viral envelope proteins. The importance of epitope mapping for identifying targetable viral structures will be discussed in the context of vaccine discovery.

Lisa A. Haile, J.D., Ph.D., Partner at DLA Piper, will provide an update on the intellectual property landscape and what is currently protectable by patents with respect to antibodies and their epitopes.

Who Should Attend

  • Scientists involved in therapeutic antibody discovery
  • Scientists involved in vaccine discovery
  • Biopharmaceutical business development personnel
  • Regulatory affairs personnel
  • Intellectual property attorneys

You Will Learn

  • The latest techniques being used for epitope mapping.
  • How epitopes are being solved for difficult targets and large collections of antibodies.
  • How epitope mapping data can provide critical insights into the mechanism of action of therapeutic antibodies and vaccines.
  • How recent changes to intellectual property laws have affected what is patentable.

Produced with support from:

Panelists

Joseph Rucker, Ph.D. VP of Research and Development, Integral Molecular

James E Crowe, Jr., M.D. Professor of Pediatrics Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Lisa A. A. Haile, J.D., Ph.D. Partner, DLA Piper, Co-Chair, Global Life Sciences Sector

Connected reading

Helpful context for this guide

Source-derived material selected through this article’s indexed topics.

comparison

Comparison of PepSpots Peptide Arrays & PepStar™ Peptide Microarrays

Peptides attached via C-terminus N-terminus Peptides purified No Yes Read-out via Chemiluminescence Fluorescence Regeneration possible Reorder possible from same synthesis Yes, up to severa…

Source: jpt.com
Research context

Read sources and limitations before applying a claim.

Common Study Designs

Overlapping peptide scan Useful for mapping continuous or linear epitopes across a protein sequence. Typical designs use peptides of fixed length with defined overlap, depending on the desired mapping resolution. Length or truncation scan Useful for narrowing a known active region to the shortest practical sequence that retains recognition or activity. Alanine scan Useful for identifying residues that contribute disproportionately to binding, structure, or biological effect. Replacement or positional scan Useful when the goal is not only to map a region but to improve or tune peptide behavior by systematic sequence changes. Scrambled peptide controls Useful as controls when testing whether a specific sequence order is important for recognition or function.

Source: lifetein.com ↗

General research areas and applications

Antibody development and antibody characterization Antibody specificity testing, cross-reactivity assessment, and epitope binning Vaccine design and target evaluation Antibody and immune response profiling T cell epitope identification and cellular immune profiling T cell specificity assessment and comparison of antigen-specific responses Diagnostic and serological assay development Immune escape, variant analysis, and epitope conservation studies Mechanism-of-action studies and target engagement analysis Biomarker discovery Quality control and assay validation for immunological reagents/workflows

Source: jpt.com ↗
P

About the author

Peptide Therapy Guide Editorial Team

Editorial team for Peptide Therapy Guide.

View all articles →