Identification of continuous epitopes of HuD antibodies related to paraneoplastic diseases/small cell lung cancer

HuD antibodies are associated with small cell lung cancer. To identify relevant epitopes of HuD antibodies, patient sera and a monoclonal antibody were analyzed for their reactivity to linear 20 mer peptides spanning the human HuD protein. The HuD monoclonal antibody recognized a single fragment located in the first RNA recognition motif. Thorough analysis identified VRDKITQGSL as the actual epitope. Screening of anti-HuD positive patients and healthy controls identified eight peptides as potential subdominant epitopes. The majority of these peptides were located in the N-terminal end as well as in the linker region between the second and third RNA recognition motifs.