{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T10:30:12Z","timestamp":1785407412590,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778544000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"John Sealy Distinguished University Chair in Vaccinology"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000060","name":"NIH","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R21 AI 156059"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R21 AI 156059"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000060","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["R21 AI 156059"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R21 AI 156059"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/044zkrt47","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Vaccines"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: The envelope (E) protein of orthoflaviviruses contains antigenic sites that are composed of one or more epitopes, which can vary in antigenic specificity, including between viral species, strains, and even substrains. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that bind these epitopes vary in functionality based on their specificity. This makes mAbs useful to study the differences in phenotypes between strains of viruses, such as the wild type (WT) and live attenuated vaccine strains of yellow fever virus (YFV). mAb 2D12 was raised against the 17D-204 YFV vaccine substrain virus (YF VAX\u00ae) by Schlesinger et al. in 1983. However, it only neutralizes Asibi WT virus, not the 17D-204 vaccine substrain virus. Results: We confirmed these results and demonstrated that mAb 2D12 fails to neutralize all 17D vaccine substrains (17D-204, 17DD, and 17D-213), indicating that the minor differences between these virus substrains do not affect the epitope or functionality of mAb 2D12. In addition, mAb 2D12 was found to neutralize WT strain of French viscerotropic virus (FVV), with statistically indistinguishable neutralization from the WT strain Asibi. All but one of the live attenuated French neurotropic vaccine (FNV) derivative viruses had significantly lower neutralization than WT strains Asibi and FVV. FVV, Asibi, 17D, and FNV have many amino acid differences in the membrane (M) and E proteins. It is unclear which of them contributes to this differential neutralization. However, FNV and 17D have common amino acid substitutions from WT FVV and Asibi at positions M-36 and E-331, suggesting that one or both of these residues may contribute to the 2D12 epitope. Conclusions: Overall, mAb 2D12 is a valuable tool to distinguish WT virulent strains of YFV from live attenuated vaccine strains.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vaccines14050430","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]],"date-time":"2026-05-12T16:04:36Z","timestamp":1778601876000},"page":"430","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Yellow Fever Virus Type-Specific Epitope Recognized by Monoclonal Antibody 2D12 Neutralizes Wild Type, but Not Live Attenuated 17D or French Neurotropic Vaccine Strains"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4841-2456","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Clairissa A.","family":"Hansen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX 77555, USA"},{"name":"Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX 77555, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shawn","family":"Rast","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Independent Researcher, Austin, TX 78728, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jill K.","family":"Thompson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX 77555, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8826-1568","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Haiping","family":"Hao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX 77555, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"Jupiter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX 77555, USA"},{"name":"Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX 77555, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stephen","family":"Higgs","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biosecurity Research Institute, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA"},{"name":"Department of Diagnostic Medicine\/Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66502, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nigel","family":"Bourne","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX 77555, USA"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX 77555, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3740-7448","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alan D. T.","family":"Barrett","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX 77555, USA"},{"name":"Sealy Institute for Vaccine Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX 77555, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8","DOI":"10.1016\/0042-6822(83)90059-4","article-title":"Monoclonal antibodies distinguish between wild and vaccine strains of yellow fever virus by neutralization, hemagglutination inhibition, and immune precipitation of the virus envelope protein","volume":"125","author":"Schlesinger","year":"1983","journal-title":"Virology"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e12","DOI":"10.1017\/S1462399408000665","article-title":"Molecular mechanisms of antibody-mediated neutralisation of flavivirus infection","volume":"10","author":"Pierson","year":"2008","journal-title":"Expert Rev. 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