Unique epitopes recognized by monoclonal antibodies against HP-PRRSV: Deep understanding of antigenic structure and virus-antibody interaction

Highly pathogenic porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (HP-PRRSV) is a member of the genus Arterivirus within the family Arteriviridae. N and GP3 proteins are the immunodominance regions of the PRRSV viral proteins. To identify the B-cell linear antigenic epitopes within HP-PRRSV N and GP3 proteins, two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against N and GP3 proteins were generated and characterized, designated as 3D7 and 1F10 respectively. The mAb 3D7 recognized only HuN4-F112 not the corresponding virulent strain (HuN4-F5). It also recognized two other commercial vaccines (JXA1-R and TJM-F92), but not two other HP-PRRSV strains (HNZJJ-F1 and HLJMZ-F2). The B-cell epitope recognized by the mAb 3D7 was localized to N protein amino acids 7-33. Western blot showed that the only difference amino acid between HuN4-F112-N and HuN4-F5-N did not change the mAb 3D7 recognization to N protein. The epitope targeted by the mAb 1F10 was mapped by truncated proteins. We found a new epitope (68-76aa) can be recognized by the mAb. However, the epitope could not be recognized by the positive sera, suggesting the epitope could not induce antibody in pigs. These results should extend our understanding of the antigenic structure of the N protein and antigen-antibody reactions of the GP3 protein in different species.