Identifying antigens recognized by cytolytic T lymphocytes on tumors

Abstract

Identification of antigenic peptides recognized by cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) is a prerequisite for the development of targeted cancer immunotherapy approaches. This chapter provides a global approach for the identification of peptides recognized by CTL. It implies the identification of the HLA molecule presenting the peptide as well as the design and screening of a cDNA library derived from the tumor cells. Methods used for the identification of spliced peptides on tumors are also described.