title: Epitope analysis of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) complex viruses using monoclonal antibodies to envelope glycoprotein of TBE virus (persulcatus subtype).
abstract: The arrangement of envelope protein epitopes of tick-borne encephalitis viruses (TBEV) (persulcatus or eastern subtype, Sofjin strain and ricinus or western subtype, Minsk-256 strain) and Kyasanur Forest disease virus (KFDV) was investigated using competitive binding of monoclonal antibodies against the Sofjin E protein. The E protein of TBEV Sofjin strain forms three antigenic domains: E1, E2 and E3, represented by 12, 9 and 2 epitopes respectively; two additional epitopes stand alone. Domains E1 and E2 are heterogeneous. On the epitope map of the Minsk-256 strain domain E3 remains intact, domains E1 and E2 overlap and the relative arrangement of virus-neutralizing epitopes from E1 and E2 domains is changed. The epitope map of KFDV is significantly dissimilar to TBEV. The viruses can be distinguished by epitopes with identical serological reactivity. A satisfactory agreement between our epitope maps and previously published antigenic models of flavivirus envelope protein (Guirakhoo et al., 1989; Mandl et al., 1989a) was observed. The main difference of our map is that domains corresponding to domains B and C (Sofjin strain) and A, B and C (Minsk-256 strain) in Heinz's model are overlapping. The results of competition analysis depend on the nature of the antigen (virion or purified protein) and the immunoassay technique.
authors.affiliation: Novosibirsk Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Siberian Division of Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia.
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Tsekhanovskaya
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Matveev
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Rubin
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Karavanov
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Pressman
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D000918:Antibody Specificity / Q000276:immunology; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D004669:Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000032:analysis*; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000939:Epitopes; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins