Characteristics of Monoclonal Antibodies to Herpes Simplex Type 2

Abstract

Monoclonal antibodies were produced by fusing NS-1 cells and spleen cells from BALB/c mice which have been inoculated with either purified herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 2 (HSV-2) virion or the major envelope glycoprotein of HSV-2 with molecular weight 119,000 daltons, designated VP 119. The specificity of each hybridoma antibody has been defined by: 1) western blot techniques employing viral infected cell lysates; 2) virus neutralization (NA); 3) radioimmunoassay (RIA) or; 4) immuno-florescence (FA) using both HSV type 1 (HSV-1) and HSV-2 antigens to determine viral type specificity. Two monoclonal antibodies designated M.186.1B.3 and M.186.2A.2 were produced against HSV-2 virions. One of these (M.186.1B.3) recognized only HSV-2 type specific determinants by RIA and was capable of reducing plaque forming units (PFU) by 70%. The second antibody (M.186.2A.2) recognized both HSV-1 and HSV-2 antigens as determined by either FA or RIA and reduced PFU by 20%. Two monoclonal antibodies designated HS2A and HS5 were generated against VP 119 and detected type specific glycoproteins by RIA. HS2A (anti-VP 119) was further characterized by NA and FA demonstrating partial viral neutralization (20%) and a nuclear staining reaction with HSV-2 infected cells.