Molecular Biology: Open Access

Epitope Mapping of Tobacco Mosaic Virus Capsid Protein: Prediction and Experimental Data from Spot Synthesis

Abstract

Daniel Ferreira de Lima Neto, Clarice Weis Arns, Dagmar Ruth Stach-Machado, Fernando Rosado Spilki, J

The immune system is a network of thousands of molecules, cells and regulatory factors that produce many interrelated responses. In this study, we used spot synthesis to map tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) epitopes in a mice animal model (Balb/c) and compared the results with those obtained using immunoinformatic prediction tools. Mice were inoculated with TMV and after immunization the sera were incubated with an array of overlapping pentadecapeptides that corresponded to the full sequence of the TMV capside protein (TMVcp) that had been synthesized on a cellulose membrane for spot synthesis analysis. Six linear epitopes were identified experimentally, as shown by the IgG-elicited immune responses in mice. The data for epitope prediction based on epitope databases agreed with the results obtained by spot synthesis results. Comparison of the findings for spot intensities and those obtained with the prediction software allowed the identification of different responses according to the MHC class I alleles. The results of this work provide a detailed antigenic profile for TMV.