Brett Hos

We have previously discovered that synthetic long peptides with tumor-specific epitopes greatly enhances the immunogenicity of the peptide vaccines when conjugated to a TLR ligand. The cellular biology underlying this improvement remains to be elucidated, since present-day techniques using bulky fluorophores influence the processing pathways. Therefore, we aim to use a two-step bioorthogonal labelling technique in which the required 2-3 atom-sized adjustments in an epitope have been shown to survive the processing environments. Successful application of this strategy will give us a powerful new tool in immunology for intracellular visualisation of antigen presentation and improving cancer vaccination strategies.