Antigenic structure of rabies virus glycoprotein: ordering and immunological characterization of the large CNBr cleavage fragments.

After rabies virus glycoprotein was treated with CNBr, the peptide mixture was fractionated by preparative sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. CNBr-cleaved peptide fragments were resolved into seven peptide bands under reducing conditions and six peptide bands under nonreducing conditions. The isolated nonreduced polypeptides were further analyzed by electrophoresis under reducing conditions. The N-terminal amino acid sequences were determined for the peptides in each of the isolated bands. The sequence data identified eight CNBr peptides and allowed the peptide fragments to be ordered within the deduced amino acid sequence of the glycoprotein. Analysis of the nonreduced CNBr peptides revealed two conformations of the glycoprotein. Two CNBr peptide fragments were specifically immunoprecipitated with a hyperimmune anti-rabies glycoprotein serum. These two and one other CNBr peptide induced the production of rabies virus-neutralizing antibodies, indicating the existence of at least three distinct antigenic sites on the rabies virus glycoprotein.