Antigenicity of Polypeptides (Poly-α-Amino Acids)

Abstract

It has been shown that immediate and delayed sensitivities to the synthetic polymers Glu36Lys24Ala40 and Glu36Lys24Ala35Tyr5 can persist in humans for years in the absence of detectable precipitable antibody. Of the new polymers not previously tested in man, the polymer Glu60Ala30Tyr10 composed of L-amino acids and the three polymers of Glu42Lys28Ala30, in which one of the amino acids was of D and two were of the L configuration, were not immunogenic in man following five intramuscular injections in a period of 10 days, whereas Glu42Lys28Ala30 and Glu36Lys24Ala35Tyr5, made of L-amino acids, were very effective immunogens. The specificity of the response was shown by the lack of in vivo or in vitro corss-reactions of the polymers with D-amino acids with the individuals sensitive to the Glu42Lys28Ala30 or Glu36Lys24Ala35Tyr5 made solely of L-amino acids.