Localization of antigenic sites on the surface glycoprotein of mouse hepatitis virus.

A panel of murine hepatitis virus (MHV) surface (S) glycoprotein-specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), which recognize either continuous or discontinuous epitopes, were tested in competitive binding assays. The results indicate that the binding site of MAb 30B amino acids 395 to 406 in the amino-terminal S1 subunit, is involved in the discontinuous epitope designated antigenic site A. This site is a major determinant for the induction of neutralizing antibodies. These data define, for the first time, the location of a functionally important domain on the MHV S protein.