Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for coronaviruses HCV 229E and MHV 3.

The antigenic relationship between human cornonavirus strain 229E (HCV 229E) and mouse hepatitis virus strain 3 (MHV 3) was studied by means of the indirect form of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A cross-reaction was found with hyprimmune rabbit sera between HCV 229E and MHV 3 which may be due to the adherence of bovine serum componeants from tissue culture media, which were present on virus particles even after extensive purification. No cross-reaction was observed with immune sera absorbed with bovine serum, or with HCV 229E grown in tissue culture without serum. This indirect ELISA with HCV 229E may prove to be useful for studies with human sera.