A computer program for predicting protein antigenic determinants.

A computerized method for predicting the locations of protein antigenic determinants is presented, which requires only the amino acid sequence of a protein, and no other information. This procedure has been used to predict the major antigenic determinant of the hepatitis B surface antigen, as well as antigenic sites on a series of test proteins of known antigenic structure [Hopp & Woods (1981) Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 78, 3824-3828.] The method is suitable for use in smaller personal computers, and is written in the BASIC language, in order to make it available to investigators with limited computer experience and/or resources. A means of locating multiple antigenic sites on a homologous series of proteins is demonstrated using the influenza hemagglutinin as an example.