Serological relationships of the subcomponents of human coronavirus strain 229E and mouse hepatitis virus strain 3.

Antibodies were raised in rabbits against the structural components of human coronavirus strain 229E and mouse hepatitis virus strain 3, prepared from disrupted virus particles. Hyperimmune sera to the subcomponents showed cross-reactions by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay between ribonucleoprotein antigens of these viruses, indicating the presence of a common antigen(s). None of the other virus structural components showed any cross-reactivity.