A technique, called the Coupling Assay for T-cell Specificity (CATS), to identify antigen-specific cells using cell lines expressing MHC II molecules with tethered peptides. CATS successfully identified antigen-specific T cells with a low-affinity peptide, while tetramer failed to identify cells with this same peptide. Increasing avidity on artificial antigen presenting cells can overcome low affinity TCR-pMHC interactions, can identify more responding endogenous populations, and may be specific for the MHCII.

The present invention relates to peptides, proteins, nucleic acids and cells for use in immunotherapeutic methods. In particular, the present invention relates to the immunotherapy of cancer. The present invention furthermore relates to tumor-associated T-cell peptide epitopes, alone or in combination with other tumor-associated peptides that can for example serve as active pharmaceutical ingredients of vaccine compositions that stimulate anti-tumor immune responses, or to stimulate T cells ex vivo and transfer into patients. Peptides bound to molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), or peptides as such, can also be targets of antibodies, soluble T-cell receptors, and other binding molecules.

The present invention relates to peptides, proteins, nucleic acids and cells for use in immunotherapeutic methods. In particular, the present invention relates to the immunotherapy of cancer. The present invention furthermore relates to tumor-associated T-cell peptide epitopes, alone or in combination with other tumor-associated peptides that can for example serve as active pharmaceutical ingredients of vaccine compositions that stimulate anti-tumor immune responses, or to stimulate T cells ex vivo and transfer into patients. Peptides bound to molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), or peptides as such, can also be targets of antibodies, soluble T-cell receptors, and other binding molecules.

The present invention describes the use of nucleic acid barcodes as specific labels for MHC multimers to determine the antigen responsiveness in biological samples. After cellular selection the barcode sequence will be revealed by sequencing. This technology allows for detection of multiple (potentially >1000) different antigen-specific cells in a single sample. The technology can be used for T-cell epitope mapping, immune-recognition discovery, diagnostics tests and measuring immune reactivity after vaccination or immune-related therapies.

A process of identifying a plurality of biological samples having particular desired attributes by testing pooled samples and selecting, for intended uses such as transfusion, or for subsequent analysis that is thereby enriched for such samples, pooled samples which have, or may have, said desired attributes. The preferred number of samples per pool “d” is determined by selecting an integer value as d which produces the maximum or a value near the maximum of the product of: d times the expected number of unambiguous sample pools, where a sample pool is unambiguous if all of the samples have the desired attributes, and is otherwise ambiguous if at least one sample has the desired attributes. The value selected as d can be greater than the maximum product above, so as to enlarge the total number of samples assayed in determining the desired attributes.

The methods include selectively reducing or expanding T cells according to the antigenic specificity of the T cells. Therefore, the present invention can be used to reduce or eliminate pathogenic T cells that recognize autoantigens, such as beta cell specific T cells. As such, the present invention can be used to prevent, treat or ameliorate autoimmune diseases such as IDDM. Furthermore, the present invention can be used to expand desirable T cells, such as anti-pathogenic T cells to prevent, treat and/or ameliorate autoimmune diseases.

The present invention relates to compositions and methods for the prevention, treatment, and diagnosis of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, and discloses peptides, polypeptides, and polynucleotides that can be used to stimulate a CTL response against HBV infection. The peptide and/or proteins of the invention may be used as a therapeutic drug to stimulate the immune system to recognize and eliminate HBV infection in infected cells or as a vaccine for the prevention of disease.

The present invention relates to peptides, proteins, nucleic acids and cells for use in immunotherapeutic methods. In particular, the present invention relates to the immunotherapy of cancer. The present invention furthermore relates to tumor-associated T-cell peptide epitopes, alone or in combination with other tumor-associated peptides that can for example serve as active pharmaceutical ingredients of vaccine compositions that stimulate anti-tumor immune responses, or to stimulate T cells ex vivo and transfer into patients. Peptides bound to molecules of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), or peptides as such, can also be targets of antibodies, soluble T-cell receptors, and other binding molecules.

Identification of urokinase-type plasminogen, matrix metalloproteinase 9, and β-2-microglobulin as novel biomarkers associated with liver fibrosis and uses thereof in diagnosing liver fibrosis.

The invention relates to a method for quantitatively identifying relevant HLA-bound peptide antigens from primary tissue specimens on a large scale without labeling approaches. This method can not only be used for the development of peptide vaccines, but is also highly valuable for a molecularly defined immunomonitoring and the identification of new antigens for any immunotherapeutic strategy in which HLA-restricted antigenic determinants function as targets, such as a variety of subunit vaccines or adoptive T-cell transfer approaches in cancer, or infectious and autoimmune diseases.