Characterization of glycoproteins in equine herpesvirus-1

In this study, we attempted to express twelve glycoproteins of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) in 293T cells and to characterize these using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) and horse sera against EHV-1. Expression of glycoprotein B (gB), gC, gD, gG, gI and gp2 was recognized by immunoblot analysis using horse sera, but that of gE, gH, gK, gL, gM and gN was not. Four MAbs recognized gB, four recognized gC and one recognized gp2. Two MAbs against gB cross-reacted with EHV-4. Interestingly, coexpression of gE and gI and gM and gN enhanced their antigenicity. Furthermore, immunoblot analysis of gp2 showed that different molecular masses of gp2 were recognized by the MAb against gp2 and horse sera against EHV-1. In this study, it was demonstrated that at least six glycoproteins were immunogenic to horses, and coexpression of gE and gI and gM and gN was important for enhancement of antigenicity.