A study of epitope-based synthetic antigens, for the prevention and relief of allergic symptoms by immunotherapy, is proposed. An immunogenic peptide sequence, taken from a mast cell effector site on the CH4 domain of IgE, will be synthesized on novel branched peptide carriers. The resulting radially branched multimeric peptides are to be used to immunize guinea pigs for the production of high titer anti-sera. The anti-sera will be assayed in both in vitro and in vivo rat models to demonstrate their ability to inhibit the activation of mast cells and basophils and to reduce the release of histamines by these cells. The peptide-carrier configuration that elicits the most active anti-sera will be selected for further research and development.
