According to the present invention it is now disclosed that exposure of antigen presenting cells, particularly dendritic cells, to peptides or peptide analogs derived from heat shock proteins will subsequently activate T cells to produce immunomodulatory cytokines and will directly influence the cytokines, chemokines, and surface antigens produced by the exposed antigen presenting cells. The present invention relates to peptides and peptide analogs of heat shock proteins capable of interacting directly with dendritic cells. The present invention further relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising dendritic cells exposed to such peptides and analogs, useful for prevention or treatment of either inflammatory disorders and autoimmune diseases or malignancies, viral infections and allergy.
