Figure 1.

The mechanism of anti-tumour effect of peptide vaccine therapy: introduction of vaccine to the bloodstream; processing and presentation of the peptide by the antigen-presenting cell (APC) in a lymph node resulting in activation of CD4+ helper T cells and CD8+ cytotoxic T cells; interaction between MHC I molecule on APC and T cell receptor (TCR) during antigen presentation facilitated by CD8 molecule; generation of tumour-specific CTLs capable of lysing tumour cells: degranulation of CTL following recognition of tumour antigen and Fas-mediated transduction of death signal to the tumour.