Computational Chemistry, Informatics, and the Discovery of Vaccines

Perhaps the most exciting sub-discipline within Bioinformatics is the application of informatic methods to immunology. Immunoinformatics, which combines informatics with computational chemistry, is facilitating important change within immunology. As it frees itself from the empirical straight jacket that has characterised its development, immunoinformatics is helping immunology to engage fully with the dynamic post-genomic revolution sweeping through bioscience. Focussing on quantitative aspects, we will review recent developments within immunoinformatics, paying particular attention to the following: the development of functional immunological databases; prediction of the antigen presentation pathway; predicting the specificity of peptide Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) interactions, using statistical techniques and atomistic molecular dynamics; and the grouping of MHC molecules into supertypes.