HBV-specific peptide associated with heat-shock protein gp96

Glycoprotein 96 (gp96), a member of the heat-shock protein family, can elicit priming of antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes, when bound to antigenic viral or tumour peptides. We used direct peptide isolation from purified gp96 and microsequencing to show that a virus-specific peptide is bound to gp96 derived from liver tissues of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-induced hepatocellular carcinoma. This virus-specific peptide has potential for engineering tumour vaccines against hepatocellular carcinoma and chronic HBV infection.