A multi-epitopes tandem antigen for five types of human adenoviruses and its application in development of multivalent IgM immunochromatographic strip test

•B-cell antigen epitopes-enriched conserved sequences from hexon of 5 serotypes of HAdVs were screened and linked to form a multi-epitopes tandem antigen (META).•The META induced high titers of specific IgG antibodies, with abilities of neutralizing all the 5 types of HAdVs.•The multivalent immunochromatographic strip constructed using rMETA recognized specific IgM antibodies against all the 5 serotypes of HAdVs with high sensitivities and specificities.•The present study provides both novel idea for developing multivalent vaccine and reagent for point-of-care detection of multiple types of HadVs. In China, human adenovirus serotype 3 (HAdV-3), HAdV-7, HAdV-11, HAdV-14, and HAdV-55 are the main prevalent serotypes causing severe acute respiratory diseases and even deaths. To develop multivalent vaccine and diagnostic reagent, a multi-epitopes tandem antigen (META) was designed. Recombinant META was prepared and its humoral immunogenicity, inducing neutralization antibody ability, antigenicity, and reactogenicity were evaluated. A multivalent immunochromatographic strip constructed using the rMETA was evaluated for its sensitivity and specificity in detecting specific IgM antibodies. As a result, the rMETA induced high titers of specific IgG antibodies, with limited abilities of neutralizing multiple HAdVs. It performed both strong antigenicity and reactogenicity. The multivalent immunochromatographic strip recognized specific IgM antibodies against all the 5 types with sensitivities of 87.5% to 95.3%. It performed high specificity of 97.8%. The present study provides both novel idea for developing multivalent vaccine and reagent for point-of-care detection of multiple types of HAdVs.