Prophylactic and therapeutic potential of synthetic peptides against enterovirus 71 (EV71)

FOO GUANG WEI, DAMIAN

Publication

Prophylactic and therapeutic potential of synthetic peptides against enterovirus 71 (EV71)

FOO GUANG WEI, DAMIAN

Abstract

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) causes Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and neither vaccine nor therapeutic treatment is currently available. In this study, antisera were raised in Balb/c mice against overlapping synthetic peptides spanning the VP1 capsid protein of EV71 strain 41. Two peptides, SP55 and SP70, elicited anti-EV71 neutralizing antibodies with SP70 eliciting a higher neutralizing antibody titer. Anti-SP70 antibodies were also able to confer good in vivo passive protection against homologous and heterologous EV71 strains in suckling Balb/c mice. This study also identified a major human IgG-specific immunodominant VP1 linear epitope by Pepscan analysis. To identify human CD4+ T-cell epitope, a virtual matrix-based prediction program (ProPred) was employed. Three predicted VP1 regions were tested in vitro for their abilities to induce CD4+ T-cell proliferation. Altogether, these can provide a better understanding in protective immunity and may help in the design of vaccines and diagnostic tools against EV71.