Fig. 1

Cartoon representation of spatial structure (a) and alignment of amino acid sequences (b) of E protein domain III regions involved in the interaction with neutralizing antibodies. a. Superimposition of TBEV E protein domain III structure from 1svb PDB entry (DIIIE) with structure of West Nile Virus E protein domain III (is not shown) in complex with neutralizing E16 antibody Fab (1ztx) (Ab E16). Fragment of neutralizing E16 antibody is shown in gray, TBEV E protein domain III is shown in dark gray, the rest part of E protein is shown in light gray, amino acid residues 313, 317 and 331 are shown by black spheres. b. Alignment of all different variants of L1 and L2 loops and adjacent 313 and 331 residues. Alignment is highlighted by gray scale fill according to percent of identity. Numbers of amino acid residues forming L1 and L2 loops are designated above alignment (numbering is according to 1svb structure), 313 and 331 residues are designated below alignment. TBEV subtypes are designated on the right as follows: FE is Far-Eastern, Sa is Siberian (Asian topovariant), Se is Siberian (European topovariant), E is European