title: Analysis of the serotype-specific epitopes of avian infectious bronchitis virus strains Ark99 and Mass41.
abstract: The Ark and Mass serotype-specific epitopes of infectious bronchitis virus were studied by immunofluorescence and immunoprecipitation of mutant and recombinant spike glycoproteins (S protein) expressed in mouse L cells. Serotype-specific monoclonal antibodies could bind to the recombinant proteins of Ark99 and Mass41 expressed from the chimeras in which the N-terminal thirds of the S1 sequences were reciprocally exchanged. Therefore, it appears that the respective serotype-specific epitopes of both strains were localized within the C-terminal two-thirds of the S1 proteins. Deletion and insertion of a five-amino-acid fragment on the S1 proteins of Ark99 and Mass41, altered the serotype-specific epitopes. This result implies that the five-amino-acid insertion on the S1 protein of the Ark serotype was involved in determining the conformation of the protein, probably acting as a spacer. In addition, it appears that an interaction between sequences of the N-terminal third and the remaining portion of the S1 protein determines the tertiary structure of the protein as well as the conformation of the serotype-specific epitope.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Parrish
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Naqi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology*; D001351:Infectious bronchitis virus / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology*; D007739:L Cells; D051379:Mice; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D000939:Epitopes