title: Immunogenicity of poliovirus B and T cell epitopes presented by hybrid porcine parvovirus particles.
abstract: We have analysed the potential capacity of hybrid porcine parvovirus (PPV) capsids to present foreign epitopes to the immune system. Foreign sequences were introduced into the N and C termini of PPV VP2, which was previously shown to assemble spontaneously into parvovirus-like particles. The integrity of the C terminus was shown to be essential for preserving the structure of the capsid and therefore could not be used for epitope fusion. In contrast, insertion of sequences corresponding to T and B cell poliovirus epitopes in the N terminus did not alter the formation of particles. Moreover, the chimeric capsids containing the C3:T epitope were able to induce a T cell response in vivo. However, hybrid particles containing the C3:B epitope fused to the N terminus did not induce any peptide-specific antibody response, suggesting that the inserted B cell epitope was not exposed at the surface of the particles. These results show that the N terminus in PPV empty capsids is not an adequate site for insertion of B cell epitopes, but may be useful for T cell epitope presentation and suggest that the N terminus is located in an internal position.
authors.affiliation: Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sedlik
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sarraseca
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rueda
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leclerc
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Casal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017951:Antigen Presentation; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002213:Capsid / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D002460:Cell Line; D017931:DNA Primers; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017992:Parvovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000648:ultrastructure; D017955:Poliovirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D013552:Swine; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D036022:Capsid Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D000939:Epitopes; C442541:VP2 protein, Poliovirus