{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T17:20:29Z","timestamp":1785864029095,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772409600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Jiangsu Province Agricultural Science and Technology Independent Innovation Fund Project","award":["CX(24)1010"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CX(24)1010"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), caused by the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), is an acute and highly contagious intestinal disease that inflicts substantial economic losses on the global swine industry. The nucleocapsid (N) protein of PEDV plays a critical role during viral infection and replication. In this study, the full-length N gene was cloned and expressed using the prokaryotic expression vector pET-32a (+). The purified recombinant N protein was used to immunize BALB\/c mice. Subsequently, splenocytes from the immunized mice were fused with SP2\/0 cells, and hybridoma cell lines secreting monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against N protein were screened via indirect ELISA. The linear B-cell epitopes recognized by the mAbs were mapped using truncated N protein fragments. Results showed that three stable hybridoma cell lines (1A3, 1G1 and 1A10) secreting N protein-specific mAbs were obtained. Epitope mapping revealed that mAbs 1A3 and 1G1 recognized the epitope 71SNWHF75, whereas mAb 1A10 recognized 66RIEQP70. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that these epitopes are highly conserved among the analyzed PEDV strains and show no cross-reactivity with the N proteins of other coronaviruses. These findings could provide valuable experimental materials for further investigation of the N protein\u2019s structure and function and support the development of diagnostic assays and subunit antigen vaccine for PEDV.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v18030309","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]],"date-time":"2026-03-02T14:55:01Z","timestamp":1772463301000},"page":"309","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Identification of Novel B Cell Epitopes on the Nucleocapsid Protein of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Ruiying","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Animal Microbiology of China\u2019s Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"},{"name":"MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Meng","family":"Zhong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Animal Microbiology of China\u2019s Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"},{"name":"MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ye","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Animal Microbiology of China\u2019s Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"},{"name":"MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zichen","family":"Gao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Animal Microbiology of China\u2019s Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"},{"name":"MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jianing","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Animal Microbiology of China\u2019s Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"},{"name":"MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haiyan","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Animal Microbiology of China\u2019s Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"},{"name":"MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qingtao","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biological Engineering and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing 210014, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7279-9489","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bin","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Animal Microbiology of China\u2019s Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"},{"name":"MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9824-8386","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xiuli","family":"Feng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory of Animal Microbiology of China\u2019s Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"},{"name":"MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"243","DOI":"10.1136\/vr.100.12.243","article-title":"An apparently new syndrome of porcine epidemic diarrhoea","volume":"100","author":"Wood","year":"1977","journal-title":"Vet. 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