Monoclonal antibodies recognizing early and late antigens of human cytomegalovirus: heterogeneity of polypeptides recognized between virus isolates.

The characteristics of four human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)-specific monoclonal antibodies as assessed by ELISA, immunofluorescence, immunoprecipitation and Western blotting are described. Two antibodies recognized a 67K late polypeptide of HCMV, one recognized 43K and 79K polypeptides present early and late in HCMV-infected cells, and the fourth identified a 72K early nuclear protein of HCMV. The antibodies recognized these antigens in all HCMV isolates tested by immunofluorescence and ELISA, but demonstrated inter-isolate variations in polypeptides recognized by Western blotting.