OBJECTIVES Although human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-specific antibodies are detectable in external secretions by ELISA and western blot (WB), the presence of HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies is difficult to evaluate due to the low levels of immunoglobulins (Ig) and the presence of humoral factors of innate immunity. The objective of this study was to determine virus neutralization acti...

It is generally assumed that amino acid mutations in the surface protein, hemagglutinin (HA), of influenza viruses allow these viruses to circumvent neutralization by antibodies induced during infection. However, empirical data on circulating influenza viruses show that certain amino acid changes to HA actually increase the efficiency of neutralization of the mutated virus by antibodies raised ...

The lack of vaccines against several important viral diseases necessitates the development of therapeutics to save lives and control epidemics. In recent years, therapeutic antibodies have received considerable attention due to their good safety profiles and clinical success when used against viruses such as respiratory syncytial virus, Ebola virus and Hendra virus. The binding affinity of thes...

INTRODUCTION Sandfly fever virus (SFV) serotypes sandfly fever Naples virus, sandfly fever Sicilian virus, and sandfly fever Cyprus virus cause febrile diseases, whereas Toscana virus (TOSV) is responsible for aseptic meningoencephalitis. Diagnosis and surveillance of TOSV depend heavily on virus serology, and various commercial assays utilizing various antigen sources and formats have been ava...

Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an important human and animal pathogen in Africa and has been responsible for infections in travelers. Because of the aerosol infectivity and risk of dissemination of the virus, a need exists for simple, safe, serological tests for diagnosis. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to detect RVFV-specific immunoglobulins (immunoglobulin G [Ig...

n engl j med 375;4 nejm.org July 28, 2016 2. Petersen LR, Jamieson DJ, Powers AM, Honein MA. Zika virus. N Engl J Med 2016; 374: 1552-63. 3. Lanciotti RS, Kosoy OL, Laven JJ, et al. Genetic and serologic properties of Zika virus associated with an epidemic, Yap State, Micronesia, 2007. Emerg Infect Dis 2008; 14: 1232-9. 4. Russell PK, Nisalak A. Dengue virus identification by the plaque reducti...

We examined whether a vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) pseudotype bearing the hantavirus envelope glycoproteins (GPs) G1 and G2 (VSVdeltaG*HTN) could be used as a safe and effective alternative to native hantavirus. Mice were immunized with purified particles of VSVdeltaG*HTN. After the second immunization, all mice produced anti-GP antibody as detected in ELISA and a neutralization test. After...

A critical first step in a "rational vaccine design" approach for hepatitis C virus (HCV) is to identify the most relevant mechanisms of immune protection. Emerging evidence provides support for a protective role of virus neutralizing antibodies, and the ability of the B cell response to modify the course of acute HCV infection. This has been made possible by the development of in vitro cell cu...

sitive test. Of the patients with cases of West Nile virus identified in New York City in 1999 and 2000 and for whom a CSF sample was available, 95% had demonstrable IgM antibody (90% within 8 days of onset of symptoms) [4]. Residents in areas in which West Nile virus is endemic may have persistent IgM antibody from a previous infection that is unrelated to their current clinical illness, and, ...

The broadly neutralizing HIV monoclonal antibodies (bnMAbs) PG9, PG16, PGT151, and PGT152 have been shown earlier to occasionally display an unusual virus neutralization profile with a non-sigmoidal slope and a plateau at <100% neutralization. In the current study, we were interested in determining the extent of non-sigmoidal slopes and plateaus at <100% for HIV bnMAbs more generally. Using bot...