%0 Journal Article %T Cloning and expression of fragment of the rabies virus nucleoprotein gene in Escherichia coli and evaluation of antigenicity of the expression product %J Iranian Journal of Veterinary Research %I Shiraz University %Z 1728-1997 %A Tursunov, K. %A Begaliyeva, A. %A Ingirbay, B. %A Mukanov, K. %A Ramanculov, E. %A Shustov, A. %A Mukantayev, K. %D 2017 %\ 03/01/2017 %V 18 %N 1 %P 36-42 %! Cloning and expression of fragment of the rabies virus nucleoprotein gene in Escherichia coli and evaluation of antigenicity of the expression product %K Diagnostics %K ELISA %K Nucleoprotein %K Rabies virus %K Recombinant antigen %R 10.22099/ijvr.2017.4028 %X Rabies virus nucleoprotein (N protein) encapsidates genomic RNA of the virus and forms the viral ribonucleoprotein complex. These N proteins represent highly organized structures which activate proliferation of B cells and production antibodies against the N protein. In addition to the B cell, the rabies virus N protein has been shown to induce potent T helper cell responses resulting in a long-lasting and strong humoral immune response. Rabies virus N protein is a molecular target of choice for development of tools to diagnose acute rabies infection. We produced a recombinant immune reactive C-terminal fragment of the rabies virus N protein which contains an antigenic determinant located between positions 360-389. Synthetic gene encoding the N protein was cloned into an expression plasmid to produce the recombinant antigen in Escherichia coli cells BL21 (DE3). SDS-PAGE showed presence of the product with expected molecular weight (44 kDa). The recombinant fragment of the N protein efficiently recognized antibodies in sera from mice immunized with an inactivated rabies virus. Thus produced recombinant antigen of the rabies virus N protein can be used in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for diagnosis of the rabies infection. %U https://ijvr.shirazu.ac.ir/article_4028_709e868fd86c0ed9aa4de8730a87981e.pdf