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Development of monoclonal antibodies specific to Marek disease virus-EcoRI-Q (Meq) for the immunohistochemical diagnosis of Marek disease using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples

Marek disease (MD) is a viral disease characterized by the development of lymphoma in poultry. Although morphologic confirmation of lymphoma is used to diagnose MD, immunohistochemical detection of MD virus-EcoRI-Q (Meq), which is a viral protein that is expressed exclusively in MD tumor cells, would further improve the accuracy of diagnosis. We developed monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that specifically detect Meq by immunohistochemistry (IHC) using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) sections. We evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of 14 mAbs that we produced, using FFPE samples of MDCC-MSB1 cells, MD tumor tissues, and tissues of uninfected chickens. Four different antigen retrieval conditions were investigated. Thirteen mAbs reacted with Meq in FFPE sections, but immunohistochemical reactivity and specificity varied depending on the mAb and antigen retrieval condition; heat-induced antigen retrieval (HIAR) was more effective at detecting Meq than the other tested conditions. HIAR pH 9 tended to increase immunoreactivity and decrease specificity. Of the 5 mAbs that immunoreacted strongly with Meq without nonspecific reactions under the optimal antigen retrieval conditions, 3 mAbs (1C1-121, 3A3-112, 5F7-82) did not produce background staining of tumor or non-tumor tissues; 2 mAbs (2C5-11, 4A5-54) produced background staining. The mAb 6B5-128 reacted moderately with Meq without nonspecific reactions and background staining. The remaining mAbs showed weak immunoreactivity or problematic nonspecific reactions. Our results suggest that some of our developed mAbs can be used in IHC to detect Meq in FFPE sections with high specificity, and that the use of IHC may greatly improve the diagnosis of MD.