A Novel Linear B-Cell Epitope on the P54 Protein of African Swine Fever Virus Identified Using Monoclonal Antibodies

Nannan Zheng; Chao Li; Haoyu Hou; Yinlong Chen; Angke Zhang; Shichong Han; Bo Wan; Yanan Wu; Hua He; Na Wang; Yongkun Du

doi:10.3390/v15040867

A Novel Linear B-Cell Epitope on the P54 Protein of African Swine Fever Virus Identified Using Monoclonal Antibodies

Viruses. 2023 Mar 28;15(4):867. doi: 10.3390/v15040867.

Authors

Nannan Zheng^{1

2

3}, Chao Li^{1

2

3}, Haoyu Hou^{1

2

3}, Yinlong Chen^{1

2

3}, Angke Zhang^{1

2

3}, Shichong Han^{1

2

3}, Bo Wan^{1

2

3}, Yanan Wu^{1

2

3}, Hua He^{1

2

3}, Na Wang^{1

2

3}, Yongkun Du^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ College of Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China.
² International Joint Research Center of National Animal Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, China.
³ Henan Engineering Laboratory of Animal Biological Products, Zhengzhou 450046, China.

Abstract

The African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a highly infectious viral pathogen that presents a major threat to the global pig industry. No effective vaccine is available for the virus. The p54 protein, a major structural component of ASFV, is involved in virus adsorption and entry to target cells and also plays a key role in ASFV vaccine development and disease prevention. Here, we generated species-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), namely 7G10A7F7, 6E8G8E1, 6C3A6D12, and 8D10C12C8 (subtype IgG1/kappa type), against the ASFV p54 protein and characterized the specificity of these mAbs. Peptide scanning techniques were used to determine the epitopes that are recognized by the mAbs, which defined a new B-cell epitope, TMSAIENLR. Amino acid sequence comparison showed that this epitope is conserved among all reference ASFV strains from different regions of China, including the widely prevalent, highly pathogenic strain Georgia 2007/1 (NC_044959.2). This study reveals important signposts for the design and development of ASFV vaccines and also provides critical information for the functional studies of the p54 protein via deletion analysis.

Keywords: African swine fever virus; B-cell epitope; P54; monoclonal antibody; vaccine development.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

African Swine Fever Virus*
African Swine Fever*
Animals
Antibodies, Monoclonal
Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte
Swine
Viral Proteins

Substances

Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte
Antibodies, Monoclonal
Viral Proteins

Grants and funding

The major Scientific and Technological Project of Henan Province, 221100110600. Project funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, 2021M690926. Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province, 222300420460.