Fine mapping of bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1) glycoprotein D (gD) neutralizing epitopes by type-specific monoclonal antibodies and sequence comparison with BHV-5 gD.

Overlapping fragments of the bovine herpesvirus-1 (BHV-1) glycoprotein (gD) ORF were expressed as trpE-gD fusion proteins in Escherichia coli to map linear neutralizing epitopes defined by BHV-1-specific MAbs. The MAbs 3402 and R54 reacted with the expressed fragments on Western blots that located the epitopes between the amino acids 52-126 and 165-216, respectively, of gD. Bovine covalescent sera with high neutralizing antibody titers against BHV-1 reacted with these bacterially expressed proteins containing both of the epitopes. Alignment of these sequences from BHV-1 with the corresponding region of the BHV-5 gD ORF sequences (reported here) identified several amino acid mismatches. Since the MAbs 3402 and R54 neutralize the BHV-1 and not BHV-5, it was presumed that these were important amino acids in defining the epitope. To further localize the neutralizing epitopes, synthetic peptides corresponding to these regions in the BHV-1 gD ORF were tested for their capacity to block monoclonal antibody neutralization of BHV-1 infectivity. The peptides encompassing amino acids 92-106 (3402 epitope) and amino acids 202-213 (R54 epitope) of the BHV-1 gD competed with BHV-1 for the binding by MAbs 3402 and R54, respectively, in a dose-dependent manner. Antisera produced in rabbits to these peptides conjugated to a carrier reacted strongly with a 30-kDa protein by Western blotting and had neutralizing antibody titers against BHV-1.