Linear epitope recognition antibodies strongly respond to the C-terminal domain of HP-PRRSV GP5

•Peptides scan was used to analysis HP-PRRSV GP5 antigen characters.•We created a HP-PRRSV GP5 antigen reaction panorama.•HP-PRRSV specific antibodies strongly respond to the C-terminal domain of GP5.•Seventeen epitope candidates were arisen in GP5 in this research.

A total of 155 peptides derived from the highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (HP-PRRSV) glycoprotein 5 (GP5) were printed on a chip to reveal the antigen reaction characteristics of the protein. The reactions of these peptides to HP-PRRSV-specific pig serum were scanned and quantified using fluorescence intensity via the PepSlide® Analyzer software. The intensity plots showed different reactions in the different sectors of GP5. The highest reaction intensity value reached 3894.5, with a peptide sequence of IVEKGGKVEVEGHLI. Seventeen peptides that showed relatively high reaction levels with HP-PRRSV-specific pig serum were selected as epitope candidates. Furthermore, the antigenic character was predicted using a software and was compared with the peptide scan results. In contrast to the software prediction, the HP-PRRSV-specific antibodies strongly responded to the C-terminal domain of GP5. The acquired data may be useful for understanding the antigenic characteristics of HP-PRRSV GP5.