Infectious bursal disease virus VP2 protein (VP2)

The infectious bursal disease virus VP2 protein is the principal structural protein forming the icosahedral outer shell of the infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), an avian pathogen causing immunosuppressive disease in poultry[1][2][3]. VP2 accounts for about 51% of the viral virion by mass and self-assembles into trimers, which are fundamental building blocks of the viral capsid[1][2]. The protein comprises three major domains: a conserved basement (base) domain, a shell domain, and a prominent projection (protrusion) domain, the latter of which harbors hypervariable regions responsible for strain-specific antigenic differences[1][3]. The surface-exposed loops of the protrusion domain present the primary epitopes for neutralizing antibodies and are frequent sites of antigenic variation, impacting both immune recognition and virulence[1][3][4][5]. During virus maturation, VP2 is produced from a precursor (pVP2) via proteolytic processing[5]. VP2 is a main target in the development of subunit and virus-like particle vaccines, as well as diagnostic reagents aimed at controlling IBDV outbreaks in poultry[7][8]. No direct small-molecule drugs are known to target VP2, but immunization strategies depend on its structure and antigenic variation.

Other names

VP2IBDV VP2Infectious bursal disease virus capsid protein VP2Avibirnavirus VP2

Induction of host neutralizing antibodies (antigenic target for vaccine immunogens); Target for passive immunization with monoclonal antibodies