title: Mapping of B cell epitopes in measles virus nucleocapsid protein.
abstract: The B-cell response against measles nucleoprotein (MeN) plays an important role in the control of measles infection. However, the data on B cell epitopes of MeN are still limited. The objective of this study was to identify B cell epitopes in MeN using monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies raised against recombinant yeast-expressed MeN (rMeN) as well as human sera from measles-positive individuals. After immunization of mice, 15 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against rMeN were generated. The B cell epitopes were localized using recombinant overlapping MeN fragments, PepScan analysis, and competitive ELISA. The epitopes of 14 mAbs were mapped within the C-terminus of MeN between amino acids (aa) 419 and 525. Four mAbs recognized a linear epitope located within a sequence of aa 440-448. Competitive ELISA revealed a cluster of conformational mAb epitopes. Cross-inhibition studies with human sera demonstrated similar localization of B cell epitopes recognized by serum antibodies from naturally infected individuals. Thus, the majority of B cell epitopes are located at the C-terminal domain of MeN. These findings provide new data on the antigenic structure of MeN and are in agreement with recent experimental evidence indicating that the C-terminal domain of MeN is well accessible on the surface of nucleocapsid-like structures.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biotechnology, Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zvirbliene
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kucinskaite
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sezaite
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Samuel
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sasnauskas
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D018604:Epitope Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008457:Measles / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D008459:Measles virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins; D009698:Nucleoproteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D000939:Epitopes; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins; D009698:Nucleoproteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014764:Viral Proteins; C058314:nucleoprotein, Measles virus