Monoclonal antibodies to polioviruses. Comparison of intratypic strain differentiation of poliovirus type 1 using monoclonal antibodies versus cross-absorbed antisera.

A panel of 10 monoclonal antibodies raised to 3 different poliovirus type 1 strains was tested in a micro-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and in a micro-neutralization test against 87 poliovirus type 1 strains. The results, evaluated in a newly developed system for intratypic strain characterization, were compared with the results obtained with the classical sero-differentiation system by using a small number of strain-specific, cross-absorbed antisera. The new system not only uses results obtained with strain-specific antibody preparations, but also uses the information obtained with monoclonal antibodies reacting with less unique antigenic determinants. In a theoretical pattern fitting computer program, each virus strain could be compared with all the other strains for which serological data were stored in the memory of the computer. The results obtained with the new system coincided well with those obtained with the classical system: all except one of the strains classified as Sabin-like or intermediate in the classical system scored 'perfect fit' or 'related' with the Sabin 1 vaccine strain in the new system. Likewise, all virus isolates classified as Kuwait-like in the classical system scored 'perfect fit' or 'related' with the Dutch Kuwait-like isolate strain 78-9030.