Peptides as viral vaccines: lessons from experiments with foot-and-mouth disease virus.

The highly variable sequence encompassing amino acids 141-160 of VP1, one of the four capsid proteins of foot-and-mouth disease virus, elicits neutralizing antibodies in a range of experimental animals. The sequence has been synthesized chemically by Merrifield's solid phase method and biochemically as part of different fusion proteins. By incorporating the peptide into the core protein of hepatitis B virus, particles are produced which elicit levels of neutralizing antibody approaching those obtained with the intact virus particle.