Epitope prediction has a wide range of applications and use cases:
- Vaccine design
Epitope prediction can be used to identify potential vaccine targets. By identifying peptides that can bind to specific epitope molecules, researchers can developed vaccines to generate immunity to a particular pathogen for a specific population (based on the HLA prevalence). - T-cell epitope identification
Epitope prediction can help identify potential T-cell epitopes, which are the specific segments of an antigen that can be bound to an MHC molecule and be recognized by a T cell. This information can be used to better understand the immune response to a particular pathogen or develop immunotherapies for autoimmune diseases or cancer. - Allergen prediction
Epitope prediction can be used to predict potential allergens by identifying peptides that can bind to MHC molecules and trigger an immune response. - Avoid unwanted immune responses in drug development
Epitope prediction can be used to screen biologicals for the presence of T-cell epitopes. This information can the be used to modify the biological’s sequence and try to circumvent an unwanted immune response.
