ABSTRACT
Objective To analysis the E protein epitopes of dengue virus type 1-4, Japanese encephalitis virus and yellow fever virus and to distinguish the shared or specific epitopes among them. Methods Bioinformatic software DNAStar was used to analyze the hydrophilicity, flexibility, surface probability and antigenicity of dengue virus type 1-4, Japanese encephalitis virus and yellow fever virus E prtein amino acid sequences. The influence of secondary structure was also considered. Based on the bio-informatic analysis of E protein epitopes, 6 specific epitopes were amplified and inserted into prokaryotic expression vector pMAL-c2x. The vectors was then transferred into E.coli BL21 (DE3) and Rosetta (DE3). Isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG) was used to induce the expression of gene segments and SDS-PAGE were used identify the expression proteins. The antigenieity was tested, using Western blot. Results 15 shared epitopes and 47 specific epitopes were forecasted by bioinformatic analysis, and 6 specific epitopes from dengue virus type 1-4, Japanese encephalitis virus and yellow fever virus E protein were expressed in E.coli successfully. Two specific antigenic determinant from dengue virus type 1 and dengue virus type 2 were confirmed using Western blot, while the others epitopes shown no antigenic reaction property. Conclusion Two specific antigenic determinant were confirmed, under Western blot.