Characterization of a monoclonal antibody against the 3D polymerase of enterovirus 71 and its use for the detection of human enterovirus A infection.

Over the last decade, frequent epidemic outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease have been observed in the Asia-Pacific region. Hand, foot and mouth disease is caused by different viruses from the enterovirus family, mainly coxsackievirus A16 and enterovirus 71 (EV71) from the human enterovirus A family. Severe disease and neurological complications are associated more often with EV71 infection, and can lead occasionally to fatal brain stem encephalitis in young children. The rapid progression and high mortality of severe hand, foot and mouth disease makes the direct detection of antigens early in infection essential. The best method for virus detection is the use of specific monoclonal antibodies. The generation and characterization of a monoclonal antibody specific for the 3D polymerase of human enterovirus A and the development of a virus detection dot blot assay are described. A recombinant 3CD protein from EV71 C4 strain was used as an immunogen to generate monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). Screening of hybridoma cells led to the isolation of monoclonal antibody 4B12 of the immunoglobulin IgG1 isotype. MAb 4B12 recognizes the linear epitope DFEQALFS close to the active site of the 3D polymerase, corresponding to amino acid positions 53-60 of 3D and 1784-1791 of enterovirus 71 polyprotein. The presence of 3D polymerase and its precursor 3CD proteinase in purified virus particles was confirmed. MAb 4B12 was used successfully to detect all enterovirus 71 subgenotypes in a denaturing dot blot assay with a sensitivity of 10 pg of 3D protein and 10(4) tissue culture infective dose of virus particles.