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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 2000, p. 2324-2329, Vol. 38, No. 6
Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease
Control, S-171 82 Stockholm,1 and
Microbiology and Tumor Biology Center, Karolinska Institute,
S-171 77 Stockholm,3 Sweden; Institute
of Preventive Medicine, Virus Ecology Laboratory, Tallinn EE0006,
Estonia2; and Haartman Institute,
Department of Virology, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Helsinki,
Finland4
Received 2 December 1999/Returned for modification 7 February
2000/Accepted 25 March 2000
Puumala virus (PUU) nucleocapsid protein (N) was expressed in
insect cells by using the Drosophila Expression System (DES; Invitrogen
BV, Groningen, The Netherlands). Stable transfectants were established
by hygromycin B selection and showed continuous expression of the
recombinant protein (DES-PUU-N) for at least 5 months. The antigenic
property of DES-PUU-N was shown to be identical to that of native PUU N
when examined with a panel of hantavirus-specific monoclonal
antibodies. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for detection
of human immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG antibodies were established by
using DES-PUU-N as antigen and were compared to assays based on native
N. The ELISAs were evaluated for patient diagnosis and
seroepidemiological purposes with panels of sera collected from
patients with hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and from
healthy blood donors. Equally high sensitivities and specificities for
detection of PUU-specific IgM in acute-phase HFRS patient sera were
obtained by the ELISA based on DES-PUU-N and the assay based on the
native antigen. For detection of PUU-specific IgG, the ELISA based on
monoclonal antibody-captured DES-PUU-N antigen showed optimal
sensitivity and specificity.
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Diagnostic Potential of Puumala Virus Nucleocapsid
Protein Expressed in Drosophila melanogaster Cells
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Swedish
Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Department of Virology,
Tomtebodavägen 12B, S-171 82 Stockholm, Sweden. Phone:
46-8-4572641. Fax: 46-8-314744. E-mail:
akelun{at}mbox.ki.se.
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