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Identification of Antigenic Differences Between the Diabetogenic and Non-diabetogenic Variants of Encephalomyocarditis Virus Using Monoclonal Antibodies

¹ Division of Virology, Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and Laboratory of Viral and Immunopathogenesis of Diabetes, Julia McFarlane Diabetes Research Unit, The University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive N.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 4N1
and² Laboratory of Oral Medicine, NIDR, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20205, U.S.A.

The M variant of encephalomyocarditis (EMC) virus consists of two biologically distinct variants: one, diabetogenic D variant (EMC-D) and the other, non-diabetogenic B variant (EMC-B). These two variants cannot be distinguished by hyperimmune sera. Monoclonal antibodies were generated against EMC-D or EMC-B to identify antigenic differences between these two variants. Fourteen independent hybrid cell lines, selected from seven separate fusions of mouse myeloma cells to spleen cells isolated from mice immunized with EMC-D, consisted of 12 hybrids which produced monoclonal antibodies that neutralized both EMC-D and EMC-B, and two hybrids (ED-HJ-23 and ED-HJ-31) which produced monoclonal antibodies that neutralized EMC-D but not EMC-B. Similarly, 16 independent hybrid cell lines, selected from eight separate fusions using spleen cells prepared from mice immunized with EMC-B, consisted of 15 hybrids which produced monoclonal antibodies neutralizing both EMC-D and EMC-B, and one hybrid (EB-48A-F1) which produced antibody that neutralized EMC-B, but not EMC-D. The specificities of these monoclonal antibodies (ED-HJ-23, ED-HJ-31, EB-48A-F1) were further confirmed using an immunofluorescent technique. The D variant-specific monoclonal antibodies reacted with cells infected with EMC-D but not EMC-B. In contrast, the B variant-specific monoclonal antibody reacted with the cells infected with EMC-B but not EMC-D. It is concluded that the EMC-D- and EMC-B-specific monoclonal antibodies are able to identify antigenic differences between diabetogenic and non-diabetogenic variants of EMC virus which cannot be distinguished by hyperimmune sera.

Keywords: EMC virus, antigenic differences, cardiovirus

Received 5 November 1987; accepted 22 February 1988.