Mimotope

A mimotope is a macromolecule, often a peptide, which mimics the structure of an epitope. Because of this property it causes an antibody response identical to the one elicited by the epitope. An antibody for a given epitope antigen will recognize a mimotope which mimics that epitope. Mimotopes are commonly used in phage display libraries. Vaccines utilizing mimotopes are being developed.