Many immunotherapeutic approaches under development rely on T-cell recognition of cancer-derived peptides bound to human leukocyte antigen molecules on the cell surface. Direct experimental demonstration that such peptides are processed and bound is currently challenging. Here, we describe a method that meets this challenge. The method entailed an optimized immunoprecipitation protocol coupled with two-dimensional chromatography and mass spectrometry. The ability to detect and quantify minute amounts of predefined antigens should be useful both for basic research in tumor immunology and for the development of rationally designed cancer vaccines.

中文翻译：

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新抗原的直接检测和定量。

许多正在开发的免疫治疗方法依赖于 T 细胞识别与细胞表面上的人类白细胞抗原分子结合的癌症衍生肽。对此类肽进行加工和结合的直接实验证明目前具有挑战性。在这里，我们描述了一种应对这一挑战的方法。该方法需要优化的免疫沉淀方案与二维色谱和质谱相结合。检测和量化微量预定义抗原的能力对于肿瘤免疫学的基础研究和合理设计的癌症疫苗的开发都是有用的。