Immune reactivity of the purified hemagglutinin of measles virus.

The role of the immune response to measles virus in acute infection or in disease states associated with this virus is of major interest. The viral genome-specified surface antigens of measles, the hemagglutinin and fusion proteins, are likely to be of paramount importance with respect to the host immune response to the virus. This report describes initial studies aimed at assessing the immune response to the major surface glycoprotein, the hemagglutinin. This antigen was purified by affinity chromatography, using a monoclonal anti-hemagglutinin immobilized on Sepharose. The purified protein retained biological activity in hemagglutination assays. This activity could be specifically inhibited with a human antimeasles serum and with monoclonal antibody to the hemagglutinin. Lymphocytes from individuals known to proliferate to measles-infected monolayers also proliferated to the purified hemagglutinin. Thus, the immune-response to measles virus is, in part, directed to this surface antigen.