A study of the development of adenovirus antigens by the immunofluorescent technique

Abstract

By using antisera which react specifically with different antigens in the capsid of adenovirus type 5 and an antiserum which can detect another type 5 antigen (designated P) which has many similarities to the T antigen associated with the oncogenic adenoviruses, a study has been made of the distribution and development of the fluorescent staining antigens in single-step infection by adenoviruses types 5, 7, and 12. The experiments suggest that the antigens detected by the P antiserum and by adenovirus type 12 tumour sera are a complex group of antigens at least one of which is group specific by the indirect immunofluorescent technique. The study also shows that this technique has a much wider specificity than other immunological methods used to characterize adenovirus types.