title: T cell epitope mapping of the e-protein of West Nile virus in BALB/c mice.
abstract: West Nile virus (WNV) is a zoonotic virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes. It is the causative agent of the disease syndrome called West Nile fever. In some human cases, a WNV infection can be associated with severe neurological symptoms. The immune response to WNV is multifactorial and includes both humoral and cellular immunity. T-cell epitope mapping of the WNV envelope (E) protein has been performed in C57BL/6 mice, but not in BALB/c mice. Therefore, we performed in BALB/c mice a T-cell epitope mapping using a series of peptides spanning the WNV envelope (E) protein. To this end, the WNV-E specific T cell repertoire was first expanded by vaccinating BALB/c mice with a DNA vaccine that generates subviral particles that resemble West Nile virus. Furthermore, the WNV structural protein was expressed in Escherichia coli as a series of overlapping 20-mer peptides fused to a carrier-protein. Cytokine-based ELISPOT assays using these purified peptides revealed positive WNV-specific T cell responses to peptides within the different domains of the E-protein.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Gene Therapy, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Filette
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chabierski
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Gene Therapy, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Oliwia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Andries
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ulbert
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Gene Therapy, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
authors.forename: Niek N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Sanders
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins