Diagnostic and immunoprophylactic applications of synthetic peptides in veterinary microbiology

Abstract

Chemically synthesized peptides are considered as potential reagents for various applications in biological sciences. They mimic naturally occurring peptides or segments of proteins and have emerged as diagnostic reagents and safe immunogens in animal science. Carefully selected peptides resembling authentic epitopes serve as synthetic antigens in diagnostic tests. Synthetic peptide-based vaccines can elicit antibodies against animal pathogens. The early use of synthetic peptides as a vaccine for foot-and-mouth disease stimulated interest in the development of peptide-based diagnostics and immunoprophylactics. The development of a peptide vaccine for canine parvovirus confirmed the usefulness of peptides as immunoprophylactics. Recently, the advent of the technology for the development of multiple antigenic peptides (MAPs) has provided a well-defined method for the production of highly immunogenic peptides and anti-peptide antibodies. Antibodies raised against major epitopes can be used in the detection of the native antigen (virus) in the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and other tests, vindicating the usefulness of peptides for safe, chemically defined, non-infectious diagnostics and immunoprophylactics. This article focuses on the methods for selecting and preparing peptides for the predicted epitopes, their characterization and use, and the application of MAPs.