Spleen cells, from BALB/c mice that had been infected with lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus (LDV) for 6 days and that had or had not been previously immunized with glutaraldehyde-inactivated LDV, were fused with NS-1 myeloma cells. The fusion frequency was at least 10 times higher than with spleen cells of normal or chronically infected mice. Only 1 of 297 wells containing hybridomas prepared with spleens from unprimed 6-day-infected mice produced LDV-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAb). In contrast, when mice were immunized with inactivated LDV before infection, 33 of 73 hybridoma-containing wells screened were LDV-specific. The mAbs produced were mainly of IgG2a, IgM, and IgG, subclasses and exhibited an identical characteristic staining pattern of LDV-infected cultured macrophages. A single mAb of IgG2b isotype yielded a different staining pattern. Western blotting showed that all of 12 mAbs analyzed in more detail were specific for the LDV glycoprotein, VP-3, but none of these neutralized the infectivity of the homologous strain of LDV. They also did not significantly protect immunosuppressed 10-month-old C58 mice against LDV-induced paralytic poliomyelitis, as does passive immunization with polyclonal mouse anti-LDV IgG.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.