Bioinformatics analysis of VP1 protein of coxsackievirus A6 / 中国免疫学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To predict the basic physicochemical properties ,structure and function ,and linear B-cell epitopes of the capsid protein VP1 of coxsackievirus A6(CVA6).Methods: The amino acid sequence of the CVA6 VP1 was analyzed using Bioedit software and various online tools including SubLoc ,TargetP and the others from ExPASy Bioinformatics Resource Portal.Results: The CVA6 VP1 protein was a hydrophilic protein with a relative molecular weight of 33.6 kD and an isoelectric point of 7.92.This protein containsed 24 phosphorylation sites , but no signal peptide , transmembrane domains and possible fatty acylation sites.Its secondary structure was characterized by the richest random coils , and 48.52 percent of its amino acid residues exposed at the solution inter-face.Epitope prediction by Bepipred showed a number of potential B cell epitopes in the protein ,the highest antigenicity index among them located in the region of amino acids residue 155-165.Conclusion:The basic physicochemical properties ,structure and function characteristics ,and potential linear B-cell epitopes of CVA 6 VP1 were successfully predicted , which laid foundations for the further study on the protein and the preparation of vaccines and immunological diagnostic reagents for CVA 6 infection.