title: Identification of conformational neutralization sites on the fusion protein of mumps virus.
abstract: In spite of the success of the mumps vaccination, recent mumps outbreaks have been reported even among individuals with a history of mumps vaccination. For a better understanding of why the vaccination failed in cases of vaccinees who fell ill during recent mumps outbreaks, the immunological events during infection and/or vaccination should be better defined. In the work presented here we sought to identify new neutralization sites on the mumps virus surface glycoproteins. By using anti-mumps mAbs, three amino acid positions at residues 221, 323 and 373 in the F protein of mumps virus were shown to be located in at least two conformational neutralization epitopes. mAbs that specifically target these sites effectively neutralized mumps virus in vitro. The newly acquired glycosylation site at position 373 or loss of the existing one at position 323 was identified as the mechanism behind the escape from the specific mAbs. Based on the findings of this study, we suggest that the influence of the antigenic structure of the F protein should not be ignored in a thorough investigation of the underlying mechanism of the mumps vaccine failure or when making a strategy for development of a new vaccine.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research and Knowledge Transfer in Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Rockefellerova 10, Zagreb 10 000, Croatia.
authors.forename: Maja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Šantak
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm 14 186, Sweden.
authors.forename: Claes
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Örvell
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research and Knowledge Transfer in Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Rockefellerova 10, Zagreb 10 000, Croatia.
authors.forename: Tanja Košutić
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Gulija
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D057134:Antibodies, Neutralizing / Q000276:immunology*; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006031:Glycosylation; D006801:Humans; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009108:Mumps Vaccine / Q000276:immunology; D009109:Mumps virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017211:Treatment Failure; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D057134:Antibodies, Neutralizing; D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte; D009108:Mumps Vaccine; D014760:Viral Fusion Proteins