title: Immunodominant antigenic regions in a structural protein of the hepatitis E virus.
abstract: Using a set of 11 synthetic peptides containing regions of the polypeptide encoded by open reading frame 2 (ORF2) of the hepatitis E virus (HEV) genomic RNA, two immunodominant regions were found. One region is located at position 546-580 amino acids (aa). Another very strong immunodominant region was identified at position 394-470 aa. Five peptides spanning this region were found to have antigenic reactivity. One of these 5 peptides demonstrated specific reactivity with 81% of sera obtained from HEV-infected patients. To elucidate the antigenic structure of this region in fine detail, an additional set of 35 overlapped 20-mer peptides spanning the region 388-493 aa was synthesized. Two subregions with very strong antigenic reactivity, one located around position 420-440 aa and another around 450-460 aa, were identified. Thus, in addition to the strong epitope(s) in the C-terminal region of the ORF2 protein previously identified, at least two immunodominant regions were found at positions 394-470 and 546-580 aa.
authors.affiliation: Hepatitis Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333.
authors.lastname: Khudyakov YuE
authors.forename: M O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Favorov
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Jue
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Hine
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Fields
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D012998:Somalia / Q000453:epidemiology; D013620:Tajikistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins