The potential of immunization with synthetic peptides to overcome the immunosuppressive effect of maternal anti-measles virus antibodies in young mice.

In this paper, we describe the results of experiments designed to test the hypothesis that immunogenic synthetic peptides representing non-immunodominant B- and T-cell epitopes of measles virus (MV) proteins can overcome the suppressive effect of maternal antibodies and induce anti-MV antibodies in young mice in the presence of maternal antibody to the virus. We have established a mouse model of immunosuppression by maternal antibody of both anti-MV and anti-peptide antibody responses in the young. Results obtained with this model immunization of young mice with a cocktail of synthetic peptides can overcome the suppression by maternal anti-MV antibodies and results in the induction of anti-peptide antibodies which recognize the virus. This work indicates that appropriately selected synthetic peptides have potential as vaccines which can be immunogenic and induce antibodies reactive with the virus-virus antibodies. in the presence of maternal anit-virus antibodies.