A sensitive method for the detection of herpes simplex virus type 2 specific thymidine kinase.

Thymidine kinase (TK) activity of uninfected and in vitro herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infected human fetal lung cells was analyzed. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was carried out, and subsequent incubation of equally divided gel slices in the presence of normal or anti-HSV-2 specific TK serum, together with different substrates, was performed. Small amounts of virus-specific enzyme could be detected using this combination of electrophoresis and antibodies and replacing ATP by CTP in the substrate medium.