title: Characterization of murine coronavirus neutralization epitopes with phage-displayed peptides.
abstract: Phage-displayed peptide libraries were used to map immunologically relevant epitopes on the surface (S) glycoprotein of a neurotropic murine coronavirus (MHV-A59). Three in vitro virus-neutralizing and in vivo protective mAbs against either continuous or discontinuous epitopes on the S glycoprotein were used to screen 12 different peptide libraries expressed on the pVIII major coat protein of the fd filamentous bacteriophage. Consensus sequences that matched short sequences within the S glycoprotein were identified. The sequence of a tight-binding, mAb-selected peptide suggested the location of a discontinuous epitope within the N-terminal S1 subunit. Several tightly binding phage were amplified and used directly as immunogens in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Partial protection of C57BL/6 mice against a lethal acute virus infection was achieved with a phage preparation that displayed a linear epitope. Protection correlated with the presence of sufficient levels of specific antiviral antibodies recognizing the same immunodominant domain and 13-mer peptide, located within the C-terminal S2 subunit, as the selecting mAb. Thus, the direct use of phage-displayed peptides to evaluate protective antiviral immune responses complements their use to characterize antibody-binding epitopes. This is the first evaluation of protective immunization induced by mAb-selected phage-displayed peptides.
authors.affiliation: Human Health Research Center, INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, Laval, Québec, H7V 1B7, Canada.
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fournier
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Talbot
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000276:immunology*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017934:Coronavirus / Q000276:immunology*; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D019151:Peptide Library; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D019151:Peptide Library