title: The N-terminus of the Montano virus nucleocapsid protein possesses broadly cross-reactive conformation-dependent epitopes conserved in rodent-borne hantaviruses.
abstract: The hantavirus nucleocapsid (N) protein is an important immunogen that stimulates a strong and cross-reactive immune response in humans and rodents. A large proportion of the response to N protein has been found to target its N-terminus. However, the exact nature of this bias towards the N-terminus is not yet fully understood. We characterized six monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the N protein of Montano virus (MTNV), a Mexican hantavirus. Five of these mAbs recognized eight American hantaviruses and six European and Asian hantaviruses, but not the Soricomorpha-borne Thottapalayam hantavirus. The N protein-reactive binding regions of the five mAbs were mapped to discontinuous epitopes within the N-terminal 13-51 amino acid residues, while a single serotype-specific mAb was mapped to residues 1-25 and 49-75. Our findings suggest that discontinuous epitopes at the N-terminus are conserved, at least in rodent-borne hantaviruses, and that they contribute considerably to N protein cross-reactivity.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Public Health, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Kita-18, Nishi-9, Sapporo 060-0818, Hokkaido, Japan.
authors.forename: Ngonda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saasa
authors.forename: Haruka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Kenta
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Cornelio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Hernández
authors.forename: María de Lourdes
authors.initials: Mde L
authors.lastname: Romero-Almaraz
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koma
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sanada
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Seto
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshii
authors.forename: Celso
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.forename: Kumiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshimatsu
authors.forename: Jiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arikawa
authors.forename: Ikuo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Takashima
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kariwa
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D002460:Cell Line; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D003429:Cross Reactions; D000939:Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006476:Orthohantavirus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D018778:Hantavirus Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000939:Epitopes; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins