Editing Epitope (section)

=== B cell epitopes ===
There are two main methods of epitope mapping: either structural or functional studies.<ref name="Potocnakova et al 2016">{{cite journal |last1=Potocnakova |first1=Lenka |last2=Bhide |first2=Mangesh |last3=Pulzova |first3=Lucia Borszekova |title=An Introduction to B-Cell Epitope Mapping and In Silico Epitope Prediction |journal=Journal of Immunology Research |date=2016 |volume=2016 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1155/2016/6760830 |pmid=28127568 |pmc=5227168 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Methods for structurally mapping epitopes include [[X-ray crystallography]], [[nuclear magnetic resonance]], and [[Electron microscope|electron microscopy]].<ref name="Potocnakova et al 2016"/> X-ray crystallography of Ag-Ab complexes is considered an accurate way to structurally map epitopes.<ref name="Potocnakova et al 2016"/> Nuclear magnetic resonance can be used to map epitopes by using data about the Ag-Ab complex.<ref name="Potocnakova et al 2016"/> This method does not require crystal formation but can only work on small peptides and proteins.<ref name="Potocnakova et al 2016"/> Electron microscopy is a low-resolution method that can localize epitopes on larger antigens like virus particles.<ref name="Potocnakova et al 2016"/>

Methods for functionally mapping epitopes often use binding assays such as [[western blot]], [[dot blot]], and/or [[ELISA]] to determine antibody binding.<ref name="Potocnakova et al 2016"/> Competition methods look to determine if two [[Monoclonal antibody|monoclonal antibodies]] (mABs) can bind to an antigen at the same time or compete with each other to bind at the same site.<ref name="Potocnakova et al 2016"/> Another technique involves high-throughput [[mutagenesis]], an epitope mapping strategy developed to improve rapid mapping of conformational epitopes on structurally complex proteins.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Davidson |first1=Edgar |last2=Doranz |first2=Benjamin J. |title=A high-throughput shotgun mutagenesis approach to mapping B-cell antibody epitopes |journal=Immunology |date=September 2014 |volume=143 |issue=1 |pages=13–20 |doi=10.1111/imm.12323 |pmid=24854488 |pmc=4137951 }}</ref> Mutagenesis uses randomly/site-directed mutations at individual residues to map epitopes.<ref name="Potocnakova et al 2016"/> B-cell epitope mapping can be used for the development of antibody therapeutics, peptide-based vaccines, and immunodiagnostic tools.<ref name="Potocnakova et al 2016"/><ref name="Ahmad Eweida Sheweita 2016">{{cite journal |last1=Ahmad |first1=Tarek A. |last2=Eweida |first2=Amrou E. |last3=Sheweita |first3=Salah A. |title=B-cell epitope mapping for the design of vaccines and effective diagnostics |journal=Trials in Vaccinology |date=2016 |volume=5 |pages=71–83 |doi=10.1016/j.trivac.2016.04.003 |doi-access=free }}</ref>