Identification of immunologically distinct antigens in pseudorabies virus.

Antigenic proteins of pseudorabies viruses (PrV) are poorly understood. Proteins from purified PrV and membrane proteins from these viral infected cells, therefore, have been studied by antigenic analysis, using virus neutralization and agargel immunoelectrophoresis tests and by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, respectively. The study of crossed immunoelectrophoresis against specific antiviral serum antibodies revealed four immunologically distinct antigens involved in PrV. According to their electromobilities, these four immunologically distinct antigens were designated as Ag 1, Ag 2, Ag 3 and Ag 4. The study of dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamine gel electrophoresis of a membrane-bound but detergent solubilized viral antigenic complex from PrV infected cells also demonstrated the involvement of four glycoprotein antigens. By interpolations of relative mobilities between known protein markers, the molecular weights of these four glycoproteins were estimated to be 61,500, 68,000, 75,000, and 88,000. Results from two dimentional immunoelectrophoresis seemed to be concordant with those obtained by dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. This report, therefore presents results, which strongly suggest antigenic similarities in the virion of PrV and cellular membrane glycoproteins of cells infected by this agent. The molecular weight of these four immunologically distinct antigens, Ag 1, Ag 2, Ag 3 and Ag 4, are presumed to have the following molecular weights of 88,000, 75,000, 68,000 and 61,500, respectively.