Molecular Studies of Alphavirus Immunogenicity.
Abstract
In the past year, our studies on the immunogenicity of alphaviruses have focused on two areas: (1) Determination of the binding site on viral glycoproteins for neutralizing antibodies. Neutralizing antibodies bind to surface structures of a virus and interfere with the uptake or uncoating of the virus. In one case we localized the binding site for a neutralizing monoclonal antibody by using lambda gt11 expression libraries, following screening of libraries containing random cDNA inserts from Sindbis virus RNA for reactivity with monoclonal antibodies that neutralized the infectivity of Sindbis virus. When combined with sequencing studies of monoclonal escape variants this has allowed us to define an immmunogenic domain of alphavirus E2. (2) Sequence analysis of alphaviruses. We are sequencing a number of different strains of Sindbis virus and of its relatives in order to understand the geographic distribution of these viruses and their potential These viruses include Aura virus from South America and Whataroa virus from New Zealand. We have developed cloning methods that have allowed us to obtain cDNA clones representing all of a viral genome which are suitable for high throughput automated DNA sequencing. This has made it possible to acquire sequence data at a much more rapid rate. Sindbis Virus; Alphavirus; Ockelbo Disease; RA I; BD; Antigenic Epitope; Immunogenicity.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 23, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA251032
Entities
People
- James H. Strauss
Organizations
- California Institute of Technology