Characterization of cross-reactive and serotype-specific epitopes on the nucleocapsid proteins of hantaviruses

The hantavirus nucleocapsid (N) protein fulfills several key roles in virus replication and assembly and is the major antigen in humoral immune responses in humans and mice. Here we report on epitopes involved in serotype-specific and cross-reactive recognition of the N proteins of hantaviruses using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the N proteins of Andes virus (ANDV) and Sin Nombre virus (SNV). The mAbs define at least twelve different epitopic patterns which span eight sequences, including amino acids 17–59, 66–78, 79–91, 157–169, 222–234, 244–263, 274–286 and 326–338 on the SNV and ANDV N proteins. Studies on the cross-reactivity of these mAbs with different hantavirus N proteins indicated that epitopes located within amino acids 244–286 are related to serotype specificity. We analyzed further the location of epitopes with available three-dimensional structure information including the N-terminal coiled–coil and derived exposed and hidden residues of these epitopes. The generated recombinant N proteins and the characterized mAbs are functional tools being now available for hantavirus diagnostics and replication studies.