Synthetic oligopeptides define epitopes at the amino- and carboxy-terminus of simian virus 40 large tumor antigen which are recognized by monoclonal antibodies.

Synthetic oligopeptides were used to define the epitopes recognized by monoclonal antibodies directed against the SV40 large tumor (T) antigen. The two monoclonal antibodies PAb 1622 and PAb 1626 reacted with the N-terminal undecapeptide Met(1)-Leu(11) as detected by inhibition of nuclear SV40 T antigen immunofluorescence. Antibody PAb 1605 recognized the hexapeptide Thr(701)-Pro(706) at the carboxy-terminus of the SV40 T antigen as detected by inhibition of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The specificities of these monoclonal antibodies differ from those of antibodies previously raised against the respective synthetic oligopeptides.