title: Serologic marker candidates identified among B-cell linear epitopes of Nsp2 and structural proteins of a North American strain of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.
abstract: We describe B-cell linear epitopes detected by Pepscan in the Nsp2 and all of the structural proteins of a US PRRSV strain, using sera of 15 experimentally infected pigs. The Nsp2 was found to contain the highest frequency of immunodominant epitopes (n = 18) when compared to structural proteins. Ten of these 18 Nsp2 peptides were reactive with 80 to 100% of the examined sera. In the structural proteins, epitopes consistently recognized by immune sera were located at gp2 (n = 2), gp3 (n = 4), gp5 (n = 3), M (n = 2) and N (n = 2). Overall, the highest degree of immunogenicity and conservation was exhibited by two epitopes identified in the C-terminal end of the M protein (ORF6). The antibodies recognizing the immunodominant epitopes of each protein were detected as early as days 7 to 15 pi and remained detectable until the end of the experiment (day 90 pi). These findings have direct implications for PRRSV differential diagnostics and eventual eradication as the identified epitopes may represent serologic marker candidates for differential (DIVA) PRRSV vaccines, derived from infectious cDNA clones.
authors.affiliation: Nebraska Center for Virology and Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Fair Street and East Campus Loop, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68583-0905, USA.
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Lima
authors.forename: Asit K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Pattnaik
authors.forename: Eduardo F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.forename: Fernando A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Osorio
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000276:immunology; D019318:Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D019316:Porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus / Q000276:immunology*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D013552:Swine; D013997:Time Factors; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte; D007106:Immune Sera; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D010455:Peptides; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; D015678:Viral Structural Proteins; C114789:glycoprotein 5, PRRSV