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Find smart way to detect SARS–CoV–2 neutralizing antibodies
Neutralizing antibodies are antibodies with the highest level of protectability against reinfection or serious course of the disease.
15 July 2022
Table 1: Homology of different vaccinia antigens that are represented in JPT’s proprietary PepMix peptide pools with the respective monkeypox antigens.
* defined as the percentage of residues with a positive BLOSUM50 score (gap is score -5) in a comparison of aligned sequences.
Monkeypox virus (MPXV) peptide tools
With the recent emergence of a new monkeypox strain, questions about its severity and potential spread among humans remain to be answered. To study cross immunity and monitor immune cell activity, JPT developed a new peptide pool.
There are indications that the smallpox vaccine also leads to increased immunity against the monkeypox virus. This is in line with the observation that some antigens show a high homology within different viruses of the poxvirus family.
About monkeypox virus
Monkeypox virus (orthopoxvirus simiae) belongs to the family of Poxviridae, which can cause a zoonotic disease commonly referred to monkeypox. 83 species belong to this family of these double-stranded DNA viruses including the orthopox subfamily with
- Smallpox virus (variola)
- Vaccinia virus
- Cowpox virus
- Rabbitpox virus
- Monkeypox virus
Though rodents appear to be the primary reservoir for the monkeypox virus, primates can carry the virus and can promote its transmission to humans. Monkeypox infection primarily occurs in central and west Africa and was first identified in a human in 1970. The recent outbreak in several non- endemic countries (with many cases in Europe) has sparked a new interest in the epidemiology, sources and mechanism of infection, transmission patterns and cross-reactivity of monkeypox virus.
Of note, the common chickenpox virus (varicella zoster virus) is a herpesvirus and does not belong to the poxviruses.
Cross-immunity within the orthopox subfamily
Vaccination against smallpox seems to be quite effective (approx. 85%) in preventing monkeypox as shown in several observational studies. This could be because many of the viral proteins show great levels of homology within different orthopoxviridae as shown in belows table.
| Uniprot ID | Protein name | PepMix Product Code | Homology (%)* |
|---|---|---|---|
| O57206 | IMV heparin binding surface protein (MVA093L) | PM-MVA-093L | 96.6 |
| O57211 | Cell surface-binding protein (MVA105L) | PM-MVA-105L | 97 |
| O57196 | Putative 49.8k protein (MVA 074R) | PM-MVA-074R | 98.8 |
| P68598 | Host range protein 2 (MVA018L) | PM-MVA-018L | 99.3 |
| O57223 | Major core protein P4a (MVA 121L) | PM-MVA-121L | 98.3 |
| P07614 | Protein L3 | PM-VACV-L3L | 97.4 |
| O57265 | Putative 21.7k protein (MVA189R) | PM-MVA-189R | 63.5 |
* defined as the percentage of residues with a positive BLOSUM50 score (gap is score -5) in a comparison of aligned sequences.
JPT’s peptide tools
JPT Peptide Technologies offers custom peptide synthesis, peptide libraries, microarrays and pools for research and development of vaccines, diagnostics and therapy.
Cellular immune response profiling
- PepMix™ peptide pools
- Efficient for antigen-specific stimulation in T cell assays such as ELISPOT and flow cytometry
- Highest quality and batch-to-batch consistency, whole production ISO 9001 certified
- PepMix Pan-Poxviridae Select: 127 immunodominant peptide epitopes combining all major antigens of monkeypox virus (MPXV), smallpox virus (VARV), vaccinia virus (VACV), variola virus (VARV)
- PepMix peptide pools for various vaccinia virus antigens: e.g. Protein L3, IMV heparin binding surface protein, cell surface-binding protein and more
- Custom PepMix™ peptide pools tailored to your specific needs!
- PepTrack™ peptide libraries
- T-cell assays * High-throughput T-cell epitope discovery
- Monitoring of cellular immune response
- Custom peptide synthesis
- We are the experts for peptide synthesis with highest quality optimized for many applications. JPT’s peptide synthesis service has a very high success rate (over 99%) as they optimize the appropriate peptide synthesis method for each peptide. If you would like to order a quality peptide synthesis using regulated processes, choose JPT!
Humoral immune response profiling
- PepStar™ peptide microarrays
- Immune monitoring of humoral responses
- Profiling of monkeypox-specific samples or antibodies
- Evaluation of co-infection * Detection of epitopes and epitope spreading
- PepStar peptide microarrays for various vaccinia virus antigens: e.g. Protein L3, IMV heparin binding surface protein, cell surface-binding protein and more
- Tailored PepStar™ peptide microarrays, you define content and layout
- Peptide ELISA
- In addition to high-content peptide microarrays, JPT offers the development of peptide based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). This common analytical and highly sensitive immunological assay is well established for proteins but requires detailed experimental expertise for peptides.
Clinical peptides
Production of JPT’s clinical peptides product lines clinical grade and ISO plus is regulated by an enhanced ISO 9001:2015 quality management system for the stringent product requirements of immunotherapy as well as vaccine and drug development.
References
- Ramírez M, Santos S, Martínez O, et al. Characterization of the immune response elicited by the vaccinia virus L3 protein delivered as naked DNA. Vaccine. 2018;36(15):2049-2055.
- Kennedy EM, Dowall SD, Salguero FJ, Yeates P, Aram M, Hewson R. A vaccine based on recombinant modified Vaccinia Ankara containing the nucleoprotein from Lassa virus protects against disease progression in a guinea pig model. Vaccine. 2019;37(36):5404-5413.
- Koch T, Dahlke C, Fathi A, et al. Safety and immunogenicity of a modified vaccinia virus Ankara vector vaccine candidate for Middle East respiratory syndrome: an open-label, phase 1 trial. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020;20(7):827-838.
