Disease

Identification of H-2d Restricted T Cell Epitope of an FMDV Protein

Experiments in Lanzhou, China, predicted 30 potential CTL epitopes on structural protein VP1 through bioinformatics, thus reducing the scope for the identification of potential epitopes and improving the accuracy of the experiments. The study provides evidence of the need for further clarification of the FMDV T cell epitopes for the virus causing foot and mouth disease (FMDV).

1 December 2011

3 minute read

By: Jackie Linden

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious and devastating disease affecting livestock that causes significant financial losses. Therefore, safer and more effective vaccines are required against Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), according to Xin-Sheng Liu of the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute in China and co-authors in a paper published recently in Virology Journal.

The researchers explain that the purpose of their study was to screen and identify an H-2d restricted T cell epitope from the virus structural protein VP1, which is present with FMD. They provide a method and basis for studying a specific FMDV T cell epitope.

A codon-optimised expression method was adopted for effective expression of VP1 protein in colon bacillus. The Lanzhou group used foot-and-mouth disease standard positive serum was used for Western blot detection of its immunogenicity. The VP1 protein was used for immunising BALB/c mice, and spleen lymphocytes were isolated. Then, a common in vitro training stimulus was conducted for potential H-2Dd, H-2Kd and H-2Ld restricted T cell epitope on VP1 proteins that were predicted and synthesized by using a bioinformatics method. The H-2Kd restricted T cell epitope pK1 (AYHKGPFTRL) and the H-2Dd restricted T cell epitope pD7 (GFIMDRFVKI) were identified using lymphocyte proliferation assays and IFN-γ ELISPOT experiments.

The results of this study lay foundation for studying the FMDV immune process and vaccine development, according to Liu and oc-authors. They added that the results also showed that, to identify viral T cell epitopes, the combined application of bioinformatics and molecular biology methods is effective.

Reference

Liu X-S., Y-L. Wang, Y-G. Zhang, Y-Z. Fang, L. Pan, J-L. Lu, P. Zhou, Z-W. Zhang and S-T. Jiang. 2011. Identification of H-2d restricted T cell epitope of foot-and-mouth disease virus structural protein VP1. Virology Journal. 8:426. doi:10.1186/1743-422X-8-426