Localization and characterization of flavivirus envelope glycoprotein cross-reactive epitopes.

ABSTRACT: The flavivirus E glycoprotein, the primary antigen that induces protective immunity, is essential for membrane fusion and mediates binding to cellular receptors. Human flavivirus infections stimulate virus species-specific as well as flavivirus cross-reactive immune responses. Flavivirus cross-reactive antibodies in human sera create a serious problem for serodiagnosis, especially for secondary flavivirus infections, due to the difficulty of differentiating primary from secondary cross-reactive serum antibodies. The presence of subneutralizing levels of flavivirus cross-reactive serum antibodies may result in a dramatic increase in the severity of secondary flavivirus infections via antibody-dependent enhancement. An understanding of flavivirus E-glycoprotein cross-reactive epitopes is the

SUBMITTER: Crill WD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC533943 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature