A novel approach for the production of monoclonal antibodies using infectious vaccinia virus recombinants.

We describe a novel approach of producing monoclonal antibodies (MABs) to one specific protein of a virus or other agent consisting of several proteins, without the use of purified antigen in either the immunization or screening phase of the procedure. This method has general application in the production of MABs when the antigen cannot be obtained in a pure form, but the gene is available. We illustrate this application by producing MAB specific to the nucleocapsid protein (N) of vesicular stomatitis virus serotype Indiana (VSV-IN) from BALB/c mice immunized with an infectious vaccinia virus recombinant vector (v38) that expresses the N gene of VSV-IN. This novel method of immunization obviates the need for initial purification of the protein antigen and injection of adjuvants with the isolated protein as is done in traditional MAB production.