Journal Article

Comparative analysis of pan MHC‑I epitopes immunoreactivity on Hantaan virus nucleocapsid protein

Sun, Yubo, Li, Jianchang, Zhang, Yusi, Cai, Sirui, Kang, Haobo, Yang, Kun, Zhang, Chunmei, Li, Zhikui, Fang, Zhenchi, Sun, Yuanjie, Tian, Chenfeng, Zhang, Yun, Shi, Fei, Jiang, Dongbo, Zhang, Xiyang, Zhang, Junqi, Li, Yuanzhe, Yang, Shuya, Ding, Weijie, Fu, Shuaishuai, Sun, Baozeng

2026

Overview

During antiviral immunity, MHC-I molecules display endogenous peptides to [CD8.sup.+] T-cell receptors, prompting cytotoxic elimination of infected cells. The present study focused on dominant epitopes derived from the nucleo-capsid protein (NP) of Hantaan virus (HTNV) and revealed their high affinity for the HLA-I and H-2 superfamilies. Through immunogenicity and conservation analyses, four selective epitopes were precisely identified. Molecular docking validated the binding characteristics of selective epitopes with MHC-I molecules. Bidirectional hierarchical clustering analysis uncovered complex interaction patterns between NP 9-mer peptides and MHC-I haplotypes. Moreover, in-depth investigation of 11 HTNV variants revealed three amino acid substitutions (I241S, E242A and F384I) within the four selective epitopes; however, these substitutions did not significantly affect the pan-HLA-I immunoreactivity of these epitopes.

• Publisher: Spandidos Publications,Spandidos Publications UK Ltd
• Subject: Algorithms / Antigenic determinants / Antiviral agents / Carbon dioxide / Comparative analysis / Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay / Ethics / Genomes / Hantavirus / Haplotypes / Immunization / Laboratory animals / Pathogens / Peptides / Proteins / Respiration / T cells / Toxicity / Vaccines / Viral proteins