The polyspecific immunoglobulin response to HSV-1 viral proteins: determination of immunogenic proteins and relative antibody titres to individual polypeptides by immunoblotting

Antibody response to herpes simplex virus glycoproteins gB and gD

The antibody response to herpes simplex virus (HSV) glycoproteins B and D was evaluated using these cloned glycoproteins in an ELISA assay and compared to a standard Western blotting procedure. The ELISA assay appeared to be more sensitive for detecting gB and gD antibodies. Antibodies to gB but not gD were detected in the acute sera of patients presenting with their first episode of true primary genital herpes. The geometric mean HSV gB titer (log 2) was also significantly higher than the geometric mean gD titer in the convalescent sera of these patients (7.9 +/- 0.7 vs. 5.5 +/- 0.9, P less than .003). A cross-reaction between HSV gB and varicella zoster virus (VZV) gp II was demonstrated. Thus, it is possible that a previous VZV infection could prime the immune system to respond rapidly and more vigorously to HSV gB. Indeed, in this report we demonstrated a significant correlation between the VZV ELISA absorbance and the titer to HSV gB and also detected a higher VZV ELISA absorbance and HSV gB titer in the acute sera of patients with a true primary HSV infection compared to other HSV seronegative VZV seropositive patients. Use of this quantitative assay should allow further investigation into the relationship of the immune response to these important targets and the clinical course of HSV disease.

Antibody activity to herpes simplex virus in mouse Ig classes and IgG subclasses

Recent studies indicate that Ig class and IgG subclass induction varies for different proteins and further that some Ig subclasses, like IgG2a, are more efficient in important biologic processes such as antibody-dependant cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC). Many proteins of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) are immunogenic and induce immunoglobulin responses. To determine the distribution of immunoglobulins induced by HSV-1 proteins, we studied immune mouse serum using an Ig isotype specific Elisa assay for antiviral activity. We found by endpoint analysis that the antiviral titer was 1:12,903 for IgG1, 1:5141 for IgG2a, 1:2140 for IgG2b and 1:229 for IgG3. To identify which isotypes were induced by individual glycoproteins and other viral proteins, Western blots containing HSV-1 proteins were probed with immune serum and isotype specific second antibodies. gB, gC, gD and the 42/44KDa nucleocapsid complex induced strong IgG1, IgG2a, IgG2b responses. IgG3 reactivity with viral proteins appeared weaker. Among the IgG3 reactivities detected on immunoblots, gB and gC were the most intense. Other proteins which elicited IgG1, IgG2a and IgG2b responses were 170KDa, 154KDa and gE. IgA responses were induced by 154KDa, gC, gB, gE and gD. Prominent IgM responses included gB, gC, gD and the 42KDa protein. These results indicate that HSV-1 glycoproteins induce prominent responses in all IgG isotypes except IgG3. The biologic implications of the data are discussed.