Identification and molecular characterization of human antibody fragments specific for dengue NS5 protein

The multifunctional dengue nonstructural (NS) protein 5 from the four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV1-4) is essential for viral replication and harbors a methyl transferase (MTase) and a RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase domain (RdRp). There are limited comparative studies of NS5 from the four DENV serotypes and this is further hampered by a lack of cross-reactive NS5 antibodies. In this study, recombinant NS5 proteins were expressed, purified, enzymatically characterized, and used strategically as bait in biopanning experiments with a naïve human Fab phage-display library to identify serotype specific or cross-reactive Fab fragments. Using a combination of peptide competition ELISA and peptide phage display the epitopes of the cross-reactive Fabs were mapped to the first alpha helix of the MTase domain (5M1) and the priming loop of the RdRp domain (5R3). The epitope of a third, serotype-specific Fab (5M3) was mapped to aa19-30 of the DENV3 MTase domain. Together the recombinant proteins and specific antibodies will facilitate further mechanistic studies of the DENV replication complex.