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Infectious mononucleosis patients temporarily recognize a unique, cross‐reactive epitope of Epstein‐Barr virus nuclear antigen‐1
Author(s) -
McClain Micah T.,
Rapp Erin C.,
Harley John B.,
James Judith A.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.10385
Subject(s) - mononucleosis , epitope , virology , antigen , antibody , virus , epstein–barr virus , immunology , biology
The spectrum of antibodies against Epstein‐Barr virus nuclear antigen‐1 (EBNA‐1) in patients with a recent history of infectious mononucleosis and nonaffected EBV‐positive individuals has been characterized by epitope mapping. Sera were evaluated for antibodies to all unique maximally overlapping octapeptides of EBNA‐1. Both normal controls and patients with infectious mononucleosis produce IgG antibodies that recognize the glycine‐alanine‐rich portion of EBNA‐1, as previously described. All EBNA‐1 IgG‐positive infectious mononucleosis patients tested, however, consistently produce IgG specific for an additional epitope (aa 398–412 PPPGRRPFFHPVGEA) near the middle of the EBNA‐1 protein. This region was not found to be antigenic in healthy EBV‐seropositive individuals. This region does, however, cross‐react with the sequence PPPGMRPP from the common lupus spliceosomal autoantigen Sm B′ in several infectious mononucleosis patient sera. Patients with recent clinical infectious mononucleosis temporarily recognize a unique cross‐reactive epitope of EBNA‐1 not bound by antibodies from non‐infectious mononucleosis EBV‐positive sera or those with a distant history of IM. J. Med. Virol. 70: 253–257, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.