Identification of a Conserved B-cell Epitope on Reticuloendotheliosis Virus Envelope Protein by Screening a Phage-displayed Random Peptide Library

Background

The gp90 protein of avian reticuloendotheliosis-associated virus (REV-A) is an important envelope glycoprotein, which is responsible for inducing protective antibody immune responses in animals. B-cell epitopes on the gp90 protein of REV have not been well studied and reported.

Methods and Results

This study describes the identification of a linear B-cell epitope on the gp90 protein by screening a phage-displayed 12-mer random peptide library with the neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mAb) A9E8 directed against the gp90. The mAb A9E8 recognized phages displaying peptides with the consensus motif SVQYHPL. Amino acid sequence of the motif exactly matched ²¹³SVQYHPL²¹⁹ of the gp90. Further identification of the displayed B cell epitope was conducted using a set of truncated peptides expressed as GST fusion proteins and the Western blot results indicated that ²¹³SVQYHPL²¹⁹ was the minimal determinant of the linear B cell epitope recognized by the mAb A9E8. Moreover, an eight amino acid peptide SVQYHPLA was proven to be the minimal unit of the epitope with the maximal binding activity to mAb A9E8. The REV-A-positive chicken serum reacted with the minimal linear epitopes in Western blot, revealing the importance of the eight amino acids of the epitope in antibody-epitope binding activity. Furthermore, we found that the epitope is a common motif shared among REV-A and other members of REV group.

Conclusions and Significance

We identified ²¹³SVQYHPL²¹⁹ as a gp90-specific linear B-cell epitope recognized by the neutralizing mAb A9E8. The results in this study may have potential applications in development of diagnostic techniques and epitope-based marker vaccines against REV-A and other viruses of the REV group.     

Screening and Identification of a Specific Binding Peptide to Ovarian Cancer Cells from a Phage-Displayed Peptide Library

To select specific binding peptides for imaging and detection of human ovarian cancer. The phage 12-mer peptide library was used to select specific phage clones to ovarian cancer cells. After four rounds of biopanning, the binding specificity of randomly selected phage clones to ovarian cancer cells was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). DNA sequencing and homology analysis were performed on specifically bound phages. The binding ability of the selected peptides to SKOV3 cells was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. After four rounds of optimized biological panning, phage recovery was 34-fold higher than that of the first round, and the specific phage clones bound to SKOV3 cells were significantly enriched. A total of 32 positive phage clones were preliminarily identified by ELISA from 54 randomly selected clones, and the positive rate was 59.3%. S36 was identified as the clone with best affinity to SKOV3 cells via fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. A representative clone of OSP2, S36 is expected to be an effective probe for diagnosis and treatment of ovarian cancer.

     

Identification of a Conserved B-Cell Epitope on Duck Hepatitis A Type 1 Virus VP1 Protein

BackgroundThe VP1 protein of duck hepatitis A virus (DHAV) is a major structural protein that induces neutralizing antibodies in ducks; however, B-cell epitopes on the VP1 protein of duck hepatitis A genotype 1 virus (DHAV-1) have not been characterized.

Methods and Results

To characterize B-cell epitopes on VP1, we used the monoclonal antibody (mAb) 2D10 against Escherichia coli-expressed VP1 of DHAV-1. In vitro, mAb 2D10 neutralized DHAV-1 virus. By using an array of overlapping 12-mer peptides, we found that mAb 2D10 recognized phages displaying peptides with the consensus motif LPAPTS. Sequence alignment showed that the epitope ¹⁷³LPAPTS¹⁷⁸ is highly conserved among the DHAV-1 genotypes. Moreover, the six amino acid peptide LPAPTS was proven to be the minimal unit of the epitope with maximal binding activity to mAb 2D10. DHAV-1–positive duck serum reacted with the epitope in dot blotting assay, revealing the importance of the six amino acids of the epitope for antibody-epitope binding. Competitive inhibition assays of mAb 2D10 binding to synthetic LPAPTS peptides and truncated VP1 protein fragments, detected by Western blotting, also verify that LPAPTS was the VP1 epitope.

Conclusions and Significance

We identified LPAPTS as a VP1-specific linear B-cell epitope recognized by the neutralizing mAb 2D10. Our findings have potential applications in the development of diagnostic techniques and epitope-based marker vaccines against DHAV-1.     

抗人白细胞介素15中和抗体识别抗原表位的噬菌体肽库筛选与鉴定

目的:用噬菌体呈现随机七肽库筛选能与抗人白细胞介素15(h IL-15)中和抗体特异性结合的模拟抗原表位肽,并初步鉴定其免疫原性。方法:以抗h IL-15中和抗体为靶分子,用生物淘洗法从噬菌体呈现线性七肽库中筛选与之结合的噬菌体克隆,用噬菌体ELISA和竞争抑制ELISA鉴定阳性噬菌体克隆;化学合成筛选得到的多肽,并与匙孔血蓝蛋白(KLH)偶联免疫BALB/c小鼠,检测其免疫原性。结果:经过3轮体外筛选后随机挑取50个阳性噬菌体克隆,ELISA检测结果显示其中15个克隆与抗h IL-15抗体有较强的结合能力,DNA测序结果得到的结构相似群为MTPFWQK、MSPFNQK、MIPYWQK和MIPFHQK;竞争性ELISA结果显示4个序列均能与IL-15竞争性地结合抗IL-15单抗;小鼠免疫实验结果显示4组多肽均能诱导IL-15特异性免疫反应。结论:筛选得到能与抗h IL-15中和抗体特异性结合,且具有免疫原性的模拟抗原7肽序列,为进一步开发h IL-15相关的多肽疫苗提供了依据。     

Identification of a Protein That Inactivates the Competence-Stimulating Peptide of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Competence for genetic transformation of Streptococcus pneumoniae is a transient physiological property inducible by a competence-stimulating peptide (CSP). A 68-kDa CSP-inactivating protein was previously obtained following lithium chloride (LiCl) extraction. By the same protocol, a CSP-inactivating protein was purified and identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry as an endopeptidase, PepO. Analysis of a pepO mutant provided no support for the hypothesis that PepO participates in competence regulation. To reconcile in vitro and in vivo data, we suggest that LiCl treatment results in the release of intracellular molecules, including PepO.     

应用噬菌体随机9肽库筛选庚型肝炎病毒抗原表位

The purpose of the study was to screen the antigenic epitope with monoclonal antibody against hepatitis G virus envelope protein 2 (HGV E2) from phage-displayed constrained nonapeptide library (PVⅢ9aa-cys). E. coli XLl-blue infected with PVⅢ9aa-cys was spread on 2×YT plates containing ampicillin and tetracycline. Transducting unit(TU) of PVⅢ9aa-cys was about 1.6×10 12 /ml by calculating the number of clones. The DNA sequence of PVⅢ9aa-cys, determined with cycle sequencing, was found randomly arranged in NNN order. Both ends of the nonapeptide(NNN) 9 linked with a cysteine respectively. Through four rounds biopanning of PVⅢ9aa-cys with MAb M-13-IgG, 6 of 14 positive clones were proved sharing the consensus aa sequence VXXSPL while 4 clones shared sequence VXSPL. Sequence VX(X) SPL was of homology with VRSPL of HGV E2 between aa 218-222. Average 0.D. value(A 450 ) of 10 phage clones with the consensus aa sequence were higher than those of the other 4 clones and PVⅢ9aa-cys(P<0.05). These results demonstrate the possibility that sequence VRSPL is an antigenic epitope of HGV E2. This work provides new information for the diagnosis of HGV infection as well as vaccine development of HGV.     

泰泽氏病原体抗原表位相关肽的初步筛选与鉴定

目的获得泰泽氏病原体抗原表位相关肽,用于实验动物血清中该病原体感染相关抗体的检测。方法选用泰泽氏病原体的四种单克隆抗体(M2、M3、M4、M5)作为配基,从噬菌体表面展示的随机7肽文库中筛选单抗识别的抗原表位,获得特异性噬菌体克隆;并采用ELISA、Western blot方法对其进行分析鉴定,获得阳性噬菌体克隆。结果获得阳性噬菌体克隆5个,其展示的融合蛋白能被泰泽氏病原体的免疫血清识别,ELISA检测A值的P/N为8.0～17.1;Western blot分析显示单一特异性条带,相对分子质量约为38×103。结论本研究获得的5个阳性克隆所表达的融合蛋白,为泰泽氏病原体抗原表位相关肽,可作为该病原体隐性感染血清学检测的候选抗原。     

Identification of Amino Acids Essential for Antibody Binding by mRNA-Display Using a Random Peptide Library: An Anti-Human Tumor Protein p53 Antibody as a Model

Using a synthetic DNA library coding for random 10-amino acid peptides (R10aPL), mRNA-display was applied to the isolation of interactive peptides using a monoclonal antibody against human TP53 (hTP53) as a model. Display molecules consisting of peptides and the nucleotide sequences encoding them were synthesized in vitro and subjected to four to five cycles of affinity selection. Thirty-four clones each isolated in the 4th or 5th round were sequenced. A core sequence, (X)-S-D-L-(Z)-K-L essential for binding was found, in which (X) and (Z), though undefined, were mostly F or Y and W, respectively. Although no peptides that fully matched with hTP53 were found in the clones isolated, the core sequence was found in hTP53. A 10-amino acid peptide containing the core sequence was chemically synthesized to verify its binding with SPR. Its Kd value for the antibody was 6 nM. The amino acids in epitopes essential for binding could be identified by mRNA-display with R10aPL.     

Recognition of Linear B-Cell Epitope of Betanodavirus Coat Protein by RG-M18 Neutralizing mAB Inhibits Giant Grouper Nervous Necrosis Virus (GGNNV) Infection

Betanodavirus is a causative agent of viral nervous necrosis syndrome in many important aquaculture marine fish larvae, resulting in high global mortality. The coat protein of Betanodavirus is the sole structural protein, and it can assemble the virion particle by itself. In this study, we used a high-titer neutralizing mAB, RG-M18, to identify the linear B-cell epitope on the viral coat protein. By mapping a series of recombinant proteins generated using the E. coli PET expression system, we demonstrated that the linear epitope recognized by RG-M18 is located at the C-terminus of the coat protein, between amino acid residues 195 and 338. To define the minimal epitope region, a set of overlapping peptides were synthesized and evaluated for RG-M18 binding. Such analysis identified the ₁₉₅VNVSVLCR₂₀₂ motif as the minimal epitope. Comparative analysis of Alanine scanning mutagenesis with dot-blotting and ELISA revealed that Valine₁₉₇, Valine₁₉₉, and Cysteine₂₀₁ are critical for antibody binding. Substitution of Leucine₂₀₀ in the RGNNV, BFNNV, and TPNNV genotypes with Methionine₂₀₀ (thereby simulating the SJNNV genotype) did not affect binding affinity, implying that RG-M18 can recognize all genotypes of Betanodaviruses. In competition experiments, synthetic multiple antigen peptides of this epitope dramatically suppressed giant grouper nervous necrosis virus (GGNNV) propagation in grouper brain cells. The data provide new insights into the protective mechanism of this neutralizing mAB, with broader implications for Betanodavirus vaccinology and antiviral peptide drug development.     

噬菌体肽库筛选抗人B7-H4中和抗体的模拟抗原表位及其免疫原性鉴定

目的:用噬菌体呈现随机12肽库筛选能与抗人B7-H4(h B7-H4)中和抗体特异性结合的模拟抗原表位肽,并用其免疫小鼠检测其免疫原性。方法:以抗h B7-H4中和抗体为靶分子,用体外生物淘洗法从噬菌体呈现随机12肽库中筛选与之结合的噬菌体克隆,用竞争性细胞ELISA鉴定阳性噬菌体克隆;化学合成候选多肽,并与钥孔血蓝蛋白或破伤风毒素偶联鉴定多肽的特异性;进一步用融合蛋白免疫小鼠检测其免疫原性和抗血清的补体依赖的细胞杀伤活性(CDC)。结果:经过3轮体外筛选后随机挑取50个阳性噬菌体克隆,其中20个克隆与抗h B7-H4抗体有较强的结合能力,DNA测序得到6组结构相似的肽序列;竞争性ELISA结果显示1号肽噬菌体能与细胞表面的h B7-H4竞争性地结合抗h B7-H4单抗;点杂交结果显示1号肽能特异性结合抗h B7-H4单抗;小鼠免疫实验结果显示1号肽融合蛋白能诱导高滴度的抗h B7-H4抗血清,并且抗血清具有补体依赖的细胞杀伤活性。结论:筛选得到能与抗h B7-H4中和抗体特异性结合的12肽模拟抗原表位序列并且具有免疫原性,为进一步开发h B7-H4相关的多肽疫苗提供了实验依据。     

In silico Identification and Validation of a Linear and Naturally Immunogenic B-Cell Epitope of the Plasmodium vivax Malaria Vaccine Candidate Merozoite Surface Protein-9

Synthetic peptide vaccines provide the advantages of safety, stability and low cost. The success of this approach is highly dependent on efficient epitope identification and synthetic strategies for efficacious delivery. In malaria, the Merozoite Surface Protein-9 of Plasmodium vivax (PvMSP9) has been considered a vaccine candidate based on the evidence that specific antibodies were able to inhibit merozoite invasion and recombinant proteins were highly immunogenic in mice and humans. However the identities of linear B-cell epitopes within PvMSP9 as targets of functional antibodies remain undefined. We used several publicly-available algorithms for in silico analyses and prediction of relevant B cell epitopes within PMSP9. We show that the tandem repeat sequence EAAPENAEPVHENA (PvMSP9_E795-A808) present at the C-terminal region is a promising target for antibodies, given its high combined score to be a linear epitope and located in a putative intrinsically unstructured region of the native protein. To confirm the predictive value of the computational approach, plasma samples from 545 naturally exposed individuals were screened for IgG reactivity against the recombinant PvMSP9-RIRII_729-972 and a synthetic peptide representing the predicted B cell epitope PvMSP9_E795-A808. 316 individuals (58%) were responders to the full repetitive region PvMSP9-RIRII, of which 177 (56%) also presented total IgG reactivity against the synthetic peptide, confirming it validity as a B cell epitope. The reactivity indexes of anti-PvMSP9-RIRII and anti-PvMSP9_E795-A808 antibodies were correlated. Interestingly, a potential role in the acquisition of protective immunity was associated with the linear epitope, since the IgG1 subclass against PvMSP9_E795-A808 was the prevalent subclass and this directly correlated with time elapsed since the last malaria episode; however this was not observed in the antibody responses against the full PvMSP9-RIRII. In conclusion, our findings identified and experimentally confirmed the potential of PvMSP9_E795-A808 as an immunogenic linear B cell epitope within the P. vivax malaria vaccine candidate PvMSP9 and support its inclusion in future subunit vaccines.     

凋亡蛋白和Nmi的相互作用及作用位点的筛选鉴定

为研究来源于鸡贫血病毒的小分子蛋白质———凋亡蛋白 (apoptin)诱导肿瘤细胞凋亡的分子机制 ,利用酵母双杂交系统从人白细胞cDNA文库筛选凋亡蛋白相互作用蛋白质 ,核苷酸序列分析及同源性检索表明 ,其中一个约为 1.2kb的克隆与Nmi(N Mycinteractionprotein)高度同源。细胞免疫共沉淀实验结果显示 ,在哺乳动物细胞水平仍能够检测到凋亡蛋白与全长Nmi的特异相互作用。利用构建好的分别缺失C端 11个氨基酸、中间 33～46位氨基酸和二者均缺失的 3个凋亡蛋白突变体进行相互作用位点研究 ,结果表明凋亡蛋白的 33～ 46位氨基酸(核外运信号 )对于凋亡蛋白与Nmi的相互作用是必需的 ,而C端核定位信号 /DNA结合序列对于凋亡蛋白与Nmi的相互作用不是充分必要的     

GGN3与GGNBP2的相互作用及作用区域确定

生殖细胞缺陷症(gcd)小鼠突变体是上世纪90年代初发现的一种不育突变小鼠,FancL(也叫Pog)的缺失是产生god突变小鼠的原因。FANCL是一种含有PHD结构域的泛素E3连接酶,是Fanconi贫血复合物中的组分之一。在生殖细胞中,FANCL与GGN1和GGN3相互作用,而GGN1和GGN3蛋白的功能还不清楚。为了研究GGN3的功能,揭示更多的参与该过程的蛋白质,运用Clontech公司新开发的第三套酵母双杂交系统以GGN3为诱饵从成年小鼠睾丸cDNA库中筛选与其相互作用的蛋白分子。发现了一个精子生成期间在睾丸中特异性高表达的基因Ggnbp2,免疫共沉淀分析表明,Ggnbp2编码的蛋白质产物GGNBP2在哺乳动物细胞中与GGN3特异相互作用。通过构建突变体,确定了GGNBP2蛋白与GGN3相互作用的区域。以上结果为揭示GGN3和GGNBP2在生殖发育中的功能、丰富生殖细胞发育的蛋白调控网络及其调控规律奠定了一定的基础。     

The Receptor-Binding Site of the Measles Virus Hemagglutinin Protein Itself Constitutes a Conserved Neutralizing Epitope

Here, we provide direct evidence that the receptor-binding site of measles virus (MV) hemagglutinin protein itself forms an effective conserved neutralizing epitope (CNE). Several receptor-interacting residues constitute the CNE. Thus, viral escape from neutralization has to be associated with loss of receptor-binding activity. Since interactions with both the signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) and nectin4 are critical for MV pathogenesis, its escape, which results from loss of receptor-binding activity, should not occur in nature.     

Identification of an HLA-A2-Restricted Epitope Peptide Derived from Hypoxia-Inducible Protein 2 (HIG2)

We herein report the identification of an HLA-A2 supertype-restricted epitope peptide derived from hypoxia-inducible protein 2 (HIG2), which is known to be a diagnostic marker and a potential therapeutic target for renal cell carcinoma. Among several candidate peptides predicted by the HLA-binding prediction algorithm, HIG2-9-4 peptide (VLNLYLLGV) was able to effectively induce peptide-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). The established HIG2-9-4 peptide-specific CTL clone produced interferon-γ (IFN-γ) in response to HIG2-9-4 peptide-pulsed HLA-A*02:01-positive cells, as well as to cells in which HLA-A*02:01 and HIG2 were exogenously introduced. Moreover, the HIG2-9-4 peptide-specific CTL clone exerted cytotoxic activity against HIG2-expressing HLA-A*02:01-positive renal cancer cells, thus suggesting that the HIG2-9-4 peptide is naturally presented on HLA-A*02:01 of HIG-2-expressing cancer cells and is recognized by CTLs. Furthermore, we found that the HIG2-9-4 peptide could also induce CTLs under HLA-A*02:06 restriction. Taken together, these findings indicate that the HIG2-9-4 peptide is a novel HLA-A2 supertype-restricted epitope peptide that could be useful for peptide-based immunotherapy against cancer cells with HIG2 expression.     

Identification of Infected B-Cell Populations by Using a Recombinant Murine Gammaherpesvirus 68 Expressing a Fluorescent Protein

Infection of inbred mice with murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) has proven to be a powerful tool to study gammaherpesvirus pathogenesis. However, one of the limitations of this system has been the inability to directly detect infected cells harvested from infected animals. To address this issue, we generated a transgenic virus that expresses the enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (YFP), driven by the human cytomegalovirus immediate-early promoter and enhancer, from a neutral locus within the viral genome. This virus, MHV68-YFP, replicated and established latency as efficiently as did the wild-type virus. During the early phase of viral latency, MHV68-YFP efficiently marked latently infected cells in the spleen after intranasal inoculation. Staining splenocytes for expression of various surface markers demonstrated the presence of MHV68 in distinct populations of splenic B cells harboring MHV68. Notably, these analyses also revealed that markers used to discriminate between newly formed, follicular and marginal zone B cells may not be reliable for phenotyping B cells harboring MHV68 since virus infection appears to modulate cell surface expression levels of CD21 and CD23. However, as expected, we observed that the overwhelming majority of latently infected B cells at the peak of latency exhibited a germinal center phenotype. These analyses also demonstrated that a significant percentage of MHV68-infected splenocytes at the peak of viral latency are plasma cells (ca. 15% at day 14 and ca. 8% at day 18). Notably, the frequency of virus-infected plasma cells correlated well with the frequency of splenocytes that spontaneously reactivate virus upon explant. Finally, we observed that the efficiency of marking latently infected B cells with the MHV68-YFP recombinant virus declined at later times postinfection, likely due to shut down of transgene expression, and indicating that the utility of this marking strategy is currently limited to the early stages of virus infection.Gammaherpesviruses are characterized by their ability to establish life-long infection in lymphocytes of their host as well as their oncogenic potential. The human gammaherpesviruses, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8; also known as Kaposi''s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus [KSHV]), are associated with a variety of neoplasms. EBV has been implicated in Burkitt''s lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and non-Hodgkin''s lymphoma (15, 27, 33). HHV-8 has been associated with Kaposi''s sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, and multicentric Castleman''s disease (4, 5, 7, 24).Research on the human gammaherpesvirus is hindered by their strict species specificity, and thus has been limited mostly to in vitro analyses. Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV68) is a closely related gammaherpesvirus that naturally infects rodents and provides a useful small animal model to study aspects of gammaherpesvirus pathogenesis that cannot be addressed for the human herpesviruses (3, 22, 25). In addition, the viral genome has been cloned as a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) and can readily be manipulated in Escherichia coli (1) and, coupled with the availability of numerous transgenic and knockout strains of mice, MHV68 infection of laboratory mice has provided a powerful small animal model for characterizing basic aspects of gammaherpesvirus pathogenesis in vivo.Like the human gammaherpesviruses, MHV68 establishes long-term latency in B cells, although at early time points after infection latency can also be detected in macrophages and dendritic cells (11, 26, 30). Acute infection is cleared around 2 to 3 weeks postinfection, and by days 16 to 18 postinfection the frequency of viral genome-positive cells in the spleen is ca. 1 in 100 splenocytes (19, 31). This is the peak of splenic latency, and the frequency of infected cells begins to decline significantly until it reaches a steady-state level of ca. 1 in 10,000 splenocytes by 3 months postinfection. Previous analyses have shown that latency is mainly established in germinal center (GC) and memory B cells (12, 19, 31). At early time points during the establishment of latency, the GC fraction has been shown to have the highest percentage of infected cells (ca. 60 to 80% of MHV68-infected B cells) (12). However, even in this population, only around 10% of total GC cells are infected (12). This low frequency limits detailed molecular analyses that can be performed on infected cells (e.g., analysis of virus-induced changes in cellular gene expression).Until now, there has not been an efficient way to directly detect or purify/enrich for MHV68-infected cells harvested from the spleens of infected mice. Because of these issues, we sought to develop a method to efficiently mark infected cells that would allow easy detection, as well as isolation, of infected cells. To this end, we created a transgenic virus that expresses the enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) from a neutral locus in the viral genome located between open reading frames (ORFs) 27 and 29b. We have previously used this locus to introduce other transgenes (Cre-recombinase and IκBαM expression cassettes) and have shown that this locus tolerates the insertion of transgene expression cassettes (14, 20). We show here that the MHV68-YFP recombinant virus is capable of efficiently marking infected cells, that highly enriched populations of infected cells can easily be isolated based of YFP expression, and that direct detection of infected cells provides a powerful tool for phenotypic analysis of infected cell populations.     

Identification and characterization of a new ligand-binding site in FnbB,a fibronectin-binding adhesin from Streptococcus dysgalactiae

Streptococcus dysgalactiae S2, a bovine mastitis isolate, expresses the fibronectin (Fn)-binding adhesin FnbB. Here, we describe a new fibronectin-binding domain called UFnBD, located 100 amino acid N-terminal to the primary repetitive Fn-binding domain (FnBRD-B) of FnbB. UFnBD interacted with N-terminal region of Fn (N29) and this binding was mostly mediated by type I module pair 2-3 of N29 fragment, whereas FnBRD-B mainly bound to type I module pair 4-5. Furthermore, UFnBD inhibited adherence of S. dysgalactiae to Fn but at lower level as compared to FnBRD-B. UFnBD exclusively shared antigenic properties with the Fn-binding unit Du of FnbpA from Staphylococcus aureus but not with ligand-binding domains or motifs of other adhesins, while Fn-induced determinants of FnBRD-B and other adhesins appeared to be conformationally related. Consistent with this, a monoclonal antibody 7E11 generated from a mouse immunized with FnbB, and that recognized UFnBD did not cross-react with FnBRD-B. The epitope for 7E11 was mapped to 40 amino acid long segment within UFnBD and interaction between the antibody and the epitope was specifically induced by Fn or N29. A similar antibody epitope was observed in Streptococcus pyogenes strains suggesting the presence of an adhesin bearing epitope related to FnbB.