COMMON EPITOPE ON PROTEIN-VI OF ENTERIC ADENOVIRUSES FROM SUBGENERA-AAND SUBGENERA-F

Western blot analysis with monoclonal antibodies, produced in response to immunization with gradient-purified adenovirus 41 (Ad41) virions, identified two epitopes of interest on protein VI of enteric adenoviru ses, One epitope is unique to subgenus F adenoviruses (Ad40 and Ad41); the other epitope is common to subgenus A (Ad12, 18 and 31) and subge nus F(Ad40, 41) adenoviruses but is not shared by representative serot ypes of subgenera B (Ad3 and 7), C (Ad1, 2 and 5), D (Ad8) or E (Ad4), Alignment of the deduced amino acid sequence of the genes encoding th e protein VI precursor (pre-VI) of Ad40 and Ad41 (subgenus F), Ad12 an d Ad31 (subgenus A), Ad2 and Ad5 (subgenus C) shows that the N-termina l one-third and C-terminal 23 amino acids of pre-VI are highly conserv ed, Within the central domain, pre-VI of subgenus F serotypes is more closely related to that of subgenus A serotypes than to pre-VI of the nonenteric subgenus C adenoviruses (Ad2 and Ad5), By expressing random oligonucleotide fragments of the Ad41 protein VI gene as part of a T7 gene 10 fusion protein, the two epitopes of interest were mapped to w ithin the same 14 amino acid region in the central domain of protein V I, Given the association of subgenera A and F adenoviruses with paedia tric gastroenteritis, the epitope shared by these serotypes may be fun ctionally significant with respect to gut tropism, In addition, this e pitope is potentially valuable as a target for the detection of enteri c adenoviruses in clinical specimens.