Heterogeneity in the Ability of Rabbit 7 S and 19 S Neutralizing Antibodies to Differentiate Between Intratypic Antigenic Variants of Herpes Simplex Virus

Abstract

Summary The ability of early (7 day) and late (7 week) rabbit 7 S and 19 S antibodies to differentiate between two intratypic herpes simplex virus (HSV) antigenic variants was studied by carrying out neutralization kinetic tests. The early and late 19 S antibodies could differentiate between these HSV variants in the presence of complement (C′), and the late 19 S antibody could also differentiate between these variants in the absence of C′. However, neither the early nor the late 7 S antibodies could differentiate between these HSV variants in the presence of C′, but the late 7 S antibody could differentiate between these variants in the absence of C′. The ability of the late 7 S antibody to differentiate between these HSV variants in the absence of C′ was destroyed by treatment of the antibody with 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME), although 2-ME treatment did not reduce the neutralization titers of the late 7 S antibody.