title: Antibody Recognition of Immunodominant Vaccinia Virus Envelope Proteins.
abstract: Vaccinia Virus (VACV) is an enveloped double stranded DNA virus and the active ingredient of the smallpox vaccine. The systematic administration of this vaccine led to the eradication of circulating smallpox (variola virus, VARV) from the human population. As a tribute to its success, global immunization was ended in the late 1970s. The efficacy of the vaccine is attributed to a robust production of protective antibodies against several envelope proteins of VACV, which cross-protect against infection with pathogenic VARV. Since global vaccination was ended, most children and young adults do not possess immunity against smallpox. This is a concern, since smallpox is considered a potential bioweapon. Although the smallpox vaccine is considered the gold standard of all vaccines and the targeted antigens have been widely studied, the epitopes that are targeted by the protective antibodies and their mechanism of binding had been, until recently, poorly characterized. Understanding the precise interaction between the antibodies and their epitopes will be helpful in the design of better vaccines against other diseases. In this review we will discuss the structural basis of recognition of the immunodominant VACV antigens A27, A33, D8, and L1 by protective antibodies and discuss potential implications regarding their protective capacity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cell Biology, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA. dzajonc@liai.org.|Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000, Belgium. dzajonc@liai.org.
authors.forename: Dirk M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Zajonc
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D012900:Smallpox Vaccine / Q000276:immunology; D014616:Vaccinia virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D012900:Smallpox Vaccine; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins
keywords: Antibodies; Antibody-antigen complexes; Vaccination; Vaccinia virus; X-ray crystallography