Identification of Hitherto Undefined B-Cell Epitopes by Antibodies in the Sera of Vitiligo Patients Using Phage-Display Peptide Library

Abstract

A random 12 mers phage library was used to screen a pool of immunoglo¬bulin fractions obtained from vitiligo patients. Subsequent to panning experiments, a panel of affinity selected phage from vitiligo patients were obtained. This panel was tested using an ELIS A for their reactivity with pooled sera from patients and normal controls. Among the 16 randomly selected clones, two of clones showed distinct positive reactivity with the patient's sera compared with controls. The peptides displayed by these phages expressed the following amino acid sequences: SHMPLANQYQWA and NHVQAWEQFWDS. Thus, screening with phage-displayed random peptide library of vitiligo sera can reveal peptide sequences that mimic vitiligo-related self-antigen.