A Monoclonal Antibody Specific for Japanese Encephalitis Virus with High Neutralizing Capability for Inclusion as a Positive Control in Diagnostic Neutralization Tests

Amanda E. Calvert Arboviral Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado;

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Susan L. Bennett Arthropod-Borne and Infectious Diseases Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

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Kandice L. Dixon Arboviral Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado;

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Carol D. Blair Arthropod-Borne and Infectious Diseases Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

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John T. Roehrig Arboviral Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado;

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Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is the most common cause of viral encephalitis in Asia, and it is increasingly a global public health concern because of its recent geographic expansion. Although commercial vaccines are available and used in some endemic countries, JEV continues to cause illness, with more than 60,000 cases reported annually. To develop a reproducible positive control antibody useable in diagnosis of JEV infections, murine hybridomas were developed from mice inoculated with a combination of IXIARO JEV vaccine and JEV domain III of the envelope protein (E-DIII). Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were characterized for their ability to neutralize virus in vitro. Monoclonal antibody 17BD3-2 was found to be JEV specific and highly neutralizing, with a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT)90 endpoint titer of 1.25 μg/mL. The functional epitopes were mapped using virus neutralization escape variants to amino acid residues S309, K312, and G333 in E-DIII. This MAb may be substituted for human immune sera used as a positive control in PRNT for distribution to public health laboratories worldwide in potential future outbreaks of JEV.

Author Notes

Address correspondence to Amanda E. Calvert, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3156 Rampart Rd., Fort Collins, CO 80521. E-mail: zpz0@cdc.gov

Financial support: This work was partly funded by NIH/NIAID grant U54AI-065357 to the Rocky Mountain Regional Center of Excellence in Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Disease Research.

Authors’ addresses: Amanda E. Calvert, Kandice L. Dixon, and John T. Roehrig, Arboviral Diseases Branch, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO, E-mails: zpz0@cdc.gov, kandicedixon33@gmail.com, and jtr1@cdc.gov. Susan L. Bennett and Carol D. Blair, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, E-mails: susi.bennett@colostate.edu and carol.blair@colostate.edu.

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