All gammaherpesviruses encode a major glycoprotein homologous to the Epstein-Barr virus gp350. These glycoproteins are often involved in cell binding, and some provide neutralization targets. However, the capacity of gammaherpesviruses for long-term transmission from immune hosts implies that in vivo neutralization is incomplete. In this study, we used Bovine Herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) to determine...

Longitudinal changes in neutralizing antibody responses against autologous human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 were investigated in 19 chronically infected patients who were undergoing highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Reconstitution of or increase in neutralization activity was observed in 4 of 19 patients during HAART, but neutralization activity was more or less unchanged i...

Cathepsin G (CG), a neutrophil serine protease, induces cell migration and multicellular aggregation of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells in a process that is dependent on E-cadherin and CG enzymatic activity. While these tumor cell aggregates can cause tumor emboli that could represent intravascular growth and extravasation into the surrounding tissues, resulting in metastasis, the molecular mec...

Seven neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (N-MAbs) were generated to an Australian isolate of bluetongue virus serotype 1 [BTV-1 (Aust)]. At least five of the N-MAbs were specific for epitopes on the outer coat protein VP2 and one was capable of binding SDS-treated protein in a Western blot. Six of the N-MAb panel bound and four of these neutralized BTV-1 (South Africa). None of the N-MAbs neutr...

As dengue vaccines enter clinical trials, there is a need for rapid and quantitative assays to measure neutralization. We have developed flow-based neutralization assays which generated results similar to those generated by the established, plaque reduction neutralization test. The flow assays are an improvement, as they use human cells and allow for high-throughput screening.

We performed a serologic investigation to determine whether orthobunyaviruses commonly infect humans in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Orthobunyavirus-specific antibodies were detected by plaque reduction neutralization test in 146 (18%) of 823 persons tested. Further studies are needed to determine health risks for humans from this potentially deadly group of viruses.

Infections with Schmallenberg virus (SBV) are associated with congenital malformations in ruminants. Because reporting of suspected cases only could underestimate the true rate of infection, we conducted a seroprevalence study in the Netherlands to detect past exposure to SBV among dairy cattle. A total of 1,123 serum samples collected from cattle during November 2011-January 2012 were tested f...

The role of gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) in a Chlamydia pneumoniae mouse model was studied by in vivo neutralization in two inbred mouse strains. During primary C. pneumoniae infection, neutralization of IFN-gamma increased both the numbers of bacteria and the pneumonia score in the lungs of C57BL/6 mice but not BALB/c mice. During reinfection, the bacterial counts in the lungs were increased b...

Neutralization of Chlamydia trachomatis was assayed by the decrease in inclusion-forming units in baby hamster kidney cells grown in culture. Five percent fresh guinea pig sera increased neutralization titers of rabbit antisera 100- to 1,000-fold but had no effect when normal rabbit sera were tested. Neutralization of a type A or B trachoma isolate was strain specific. Neutralization by human e...

Papillomavirus L2-based vaccines have generally induced low-level or undetectable neutralizing antibodies in standard in vitro assays yet typically protect well against in vivo experimental challenge in animal models. Herein we document that mice vaccinated with an L2 vaccine comprising a fusion protein of the L2 amino acids 11 to 88 of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16), HPV18, HPV1, HPV5, a...