title: Longitudinal analysis of the human antibody response to Chikungunya virus infection: implications for serodiagnosis and vaccine development.
abstract: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an alphavirus which causes chronic and incapacitating arthralgia in humans. Although previous studies have shown that antibodies against the virus are produced during and after infection, the fine specificity of the antibody response against CHIKV is not known. Here, using plasma from patients at different times postinfection, we characterized the antibody response against various proteins of the virus. We have shown that the E2 and E3 glycoproteins and the capsid and nsP3 proteins are targets of the anti-CHIKV antibody response. Moreover, we have identified the different regions in these proteins which contain the linear epitopes recognized by the anti-CHIKV antibodies and determined their structural localization. Data also illustrated the effect of a single K(252)Q amino acid change at the E2 glycoprotein that was able to influence antibody binding and interaction between the antibodies and epitope because of the changes of epitope-antibody binding capacity. This study provides important knowledge that will not only aid in the understanding of the immune response to CHIKV infection but also provide new knowledge in the design of modern vaccine development. Furthermore, these pathogen-specific epitopes could be used for future seroepidemiological studies that will unravel the molecular mechanisms of human immunity and protection from CHIKV disease.
authors.affiliation: Singapore Immunology Network, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Biopolis, Singapore.
authors.forename: Yiu-Wing
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Kam
authors.forename: Wendy W L
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Simarmata
authors.forename: Sumitro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harjanto
authors.forename: Terk-Shin
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.forename: Hugues
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tolou
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: Raymond T P
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yee-Sin
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Leo
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rénia
authors.forename: Lisa F P
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Ng
mesh_terms: D018354:Alphavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000276:immunology*; D065632:Chikungunya Fever; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008954:Models, Biological; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods*; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D014764:Viral Proteins; D014765:Viral Vaccines