# B CELL EPITOPE DISCOVERY AND MECHANISMS OF ANTIBODY PROTECTION.

> **NIH NIH N01** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $1,575,000

## Abstract

This contract supports the identification of human B cell epitopes derived from four viral pathogens; Dengue virus 4, Powassan virus, Chikungunya virus, and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, combined with basic studies to understand protective immunity mediated by antibodies, as well as pathological consequences of antibody responses. Milestones include 1) epitope identification; 2) epitope validation that must include in vitro evaluation using human samples; 3) submission of epitope data, computer software, and structural data to the Immune Epitope Database and Analysis Resource; and 4) studies to help understand the mechanisms of protection or pathogenesis elicited by antibodies associated with the newly identified epitopes. The primary goal of this contract is the delineation of B cell epitopes recognized by potently neutralizing or protective antibodies and evaluation of correlates of protection that can aid in the development of vaccines and therapeutics against select arthropod-transmitted viruses. The Contractor has chosen two flaviviruses (Dengue virus 4 and Powassan virus) and two alphaviruses (Chikungunya virus and Venezuelan equine encephalitis) for primary investigation of antibody responses to viral glycoprotein antigens. The Contractor will also evaluate protective antibodies that recognize the flavivirus nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) produced by West Nile and Zika viruses.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10688741
- **Project number:** 75N93019C00062-P00016-9999-2
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** DONNA WILLIAMS
- **Activity code:** N01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1,575,000
- **Award type:** —
- **Project period:** 2022-07-06 → 2023-09-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10688741

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10688741, B CELL EPITOPE DISCOVERY AND MECHANISMS OF ANTIBODY PROTECTION. (75N93019C00062-P00016-9999-2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10688741. Licensed CC0.

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