Antibody response in children to antigen sites on human PIV-3 HN: correlation with known epitopes mapped by monoclonal antibodies.

The antibody response in children to known epitopes on the HN of human parainfluenza virus type 3 was investigated. Children's sera with Haemagglutination-Inhibition titres between 1/480 to 1/1280 were used. When tested by ELISA, this high-titre serum from each of five children blocked 7 of 17 specific anti-HN murine monoclonal antibodies by greater than 75% at 1 micrograms well-1 of antigen. However, four monoclonal antibodies were blocked less than or equal to 30%, while six were partially blocked between 50% and 75%. Antigen concentrations of 0.5, 1.5 and 2.0 micrograms well-1 did not substantially change this pattern. Comparison of our results with published antigenic maps indicated that antigenic site A on the HN protein was the site with the most significant antibody representation in the children's sera. These findings suggest that antigenic maps deduced using monoclonal antibodies need to be carefully interpreted before they are used in vaccine development. Murine monoclonal antibodies may not fully represent either qualitatively or quantitatively important antibody components of the human or murine immune response to human PIV-3 HN.