Botulinum Neurotoxin (BoNT) Resource Guide

BoNT Epitopes

Common Epitopes

Epitopes or antigenic determinants are the chemical structures recognized by specific receptors of the immune system such as antibodies, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, and T-cell receptors (TCR). The evaluation of epitopes is an important aspect in characterizing immune responses for vaccine development. Common epitopes are widely used as molecular handles for any protein and can be attached to anywhere within the protein although usually on either the N or C terminus of the protein to minimize disruption of protein functions caused by changes in tertiary structure.

BoNT Epitopes

BoNT epitopes comprise the portion of the botulinum neurotoxin protein molecule that binds to the antibody. The reactive components include one of the following domains: the N-terminal catalytic endopeptidase domain (light chain, Lc), the translocation domain (H_N or H1 of heavy chain, Hc) or the C-terminal binding domain (H or H2 of heavy chain, Hc).

Below is a list of BoNT epitopes presented with the Immune Epitope Database and Analysis Resource (IEDB) ID, the PubMed ID, the Epitope Name, the Source Name (specific serotype of neurotoxin BoNT/A-G), the Epitope Source Protein Accession (NCBI, PDB or custom synthesized peptides), the Epitope Starting and Ending Positions, the Epitope Linear Sequence, the Epitope Conformational Type and the Epitope Source Species Strain linked to the Strain entry on the BoNT_strains page.