Mapping of viral epitopes with prokaryotic expression products.
Several systems are available for the expression of foreign gene sequences in Escherichia coli. We describe the use of prokaryotic expression products of viral gene fragments in order to identify the regions that specify the binding sites of antibodies. This approach is particularly successful if the antigenicity does not depend on the native protein, but only on the amino acid sequence, i.e., if the epitope is sequential. Combining prokaryotic expression with the use of synthetic peptides often permits a fast and accurate mapping of an epitope. The occurrence of immunodominant sequential epitopes on the surfaces of viruses seems to be a widespread phenomenon.
Institute of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, The Netherlands.
J A
JA
Lenstra
J G
JG
Kusters
B A
BA
van der Zeijst
D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D001666:Binding Sites, Antibody / Q000235:genetics; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000502:physiology
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D000939:Epitopes