Induction of neutralizing antibodies by all three structural poliovirus polypeptides.

Structural polypeptides VP1, VP2, and VP3 of poliovirus, type 1, strain Mahoney, induced low, but clearly demonstrable levels of neutralizing antibodies in rabbits. Half-neutralization titers of antisera for 1000 PFU/ml of poliovirus were in the range of 0.5 to 1.5 log10 units. Polypeptides were isolated by three independent procedures including different dissociation and separation methods to circumvent their denaturation and possible contamination by neighboring fractions. The best and fastest method was dissociation of poliovirus by formic acid and separation of polypeptides by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography.