Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Parasitology 1735-7020 7 4 2015 10 13 27 40 EN H. Rezvan Dept. of Laboratory Science, School of Paraveterinary Sciences, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran. R. Rees School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton, Nottingham, UK, NG11 8NS. Ali SA. School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton, Nottingham, UK, NG11 8NS. 2015 10 13 2015 10 13 Background: Leishmania is an intracellular parasite infecting humans and many wild and domestic animals. Recent studies have suggested an important role for cytotoxic T cells against Leishmania. Peptide-based vaccines targeting short sequences derived from known immunogenic proteins have been shown to elicit cellular immune responses against disparate pathogens. Methods: We predicted four HLA-A2 peptides derived from L. mexican/major gp63 and tested these in HHD II mice, as well as four peptides for mouse MHC class I from the same proteins tested in BALB/ mice. Results: The results revealed immunogenicity for three of the four peptides predicted for HLA-A2.Immunisation with these peptides, along with IFA, induced CTL responses detected by standard 4- hour cytotoxicity assay and significantly upregulated the production of IFN-γ. When HHDII mice were injected IM with L. mexicana gp63 cDNA and splenocytes were restimulated with blasts loaded with the immunogenic peptides, two of the peptides were able to induce significant level of IFN-γ detected by ELISA. None of the peptides predicted for Balb/c mouse MHC class I elicited CTL ac- tivity or significantly upregulated the IFN-γ. Conclusion: The results may help in developing a peptide-based vaccine, which can be applied alone or in combination with drugs against Leishmania.   https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/view/281 https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/download/281/264