JC virus (JCV)-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) in peripheral blood are associated with a favorable outcome in patients with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). However, the frequency of these cells in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of PML patients is unknown. To develop a highly sensitive assay for detecting the cellular immune response against this virus, we...

BACKGROUND Chicken anemia virus (CAV), the causative agent chicken anemia, is the only member of the genus Gyrovirus of the Circoviridae family. CAV is an immune suppressive virus and causes anemia, lymph organ atrophy and immunodeficiency. The production and biochemical characterization of VP1 protein and its use in a subunit vaccine or as part of a diagnostic kit would be useful to CAV infect...

Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus of the Birnaviridae family. Its two genome segments are encapsidated together with multiple copies of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, VP1, in a single-shell capsid that is composed of VP2 and VP3. In this study we identified the domains responsible for the interaction between VP3 and VP1. Using the yeast two-h...

BACKGROUND The 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 V...

Viruses with spindle or lemon-shaped virions are rare in the world of viruses, but are common in viruses of archaeal extremophiles, possibly due to the extreme conditions in which they thrive. However, the structural and genetic basis for the unique spindle shape is unknown. The best-studied spindle-shaped virus, Sulfolobus Spindle-shaped Virus 1 (SSV1), is composed mostly of the major capsid p...

The VP1 subunit of the picornavirus capsid is the major antigenic determinant and mediates host cell attachment and virus entry. To investigate the localisation of Theiler's murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) VP1 during infection, a bioinformatics approach was used to predict a surface-exposed, linear epitope region of the protein for subsequent expression and purification. This region, comp...

Capsids of polyomaviruses--small, nonenveloped DNA viruses--consist of the major structural protein VP1 and the minor structural proteins VP2 and VP3. The contributions of the individual capsid proteins to functions of the viral particle, such as DNA encapsidation, cell receptor attachment, entry, and uncoating, are still not clear. Here we show that viruslike particles assembled in nuclei of i...

BACKGROUND Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is a major causative viral agent responsible for large outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), a common rash illness in children and infants. There is no effective antiviral treatment for severe EV71 infections and no vaccine is available. The objectives of this study were to design and construct a DNA vaccine against Enterovirus 71 using the viral cap...

Seven neutralizing monoclonal antibodies were used to characterize 30 escape mutants of a type O foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus (O1 Kaufbeuren) selected with the five most active antibodies. Three non-overlapping antigenic sites were found by ELISA and cross-neutralization studies. Within two of the sites the epitopes of two or more monoclonal antibodies overlapped. Two of the sites were co...

Transient disulfide bonding occurs during the intracellular folding and pentamerization of simian virus 40 (SV40) major capsid protein Vp1 (P. P. Li, A. Nakanishi, S. W. Clark, and H. Kasamatsu, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99:1353-1358, 2002). We investigated the requirement for Vp1 cysteine pairs during SV40 infection. Our analysis identified three Vp1 double-cysteine mutant combinations that a...