Immune recognition of swine vesicular disease virus structural proteins: Novel antigenic regions that are not exposed in the capsid

Swine vesicular disease virus (SVDV) is an enterovirus of the Picornavirida e family that belongs to the coxsackievirus B group. A number of antigenic sites have been identified in SVDV by analysis of neutralizing monoclonal a ntibody-resistant mutants and shown to be exposed on the surface of the cap sid. In this paper we have identified seven new immunodominant antigenic re gions in SVDV capsid proteins by a peptide scanning method, using a panel o f sera from infected pigs. When these antigenic regions were located in the capsid by using a computer-generated three-dimensional model of the virion , one was readily exposed on the surface of the virus and the remaining sit es were located facing the inner side of the capsid shell, at subunit conta cts, or in the interior of the subunit structure. (C) 2000 Academic Press.