Detection of Lassa virus antinucleoprotein immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM antibodies by a simple recombinant immunoblot assay for field use.

ABSTRACT: The nucleoprotein of Lassa virus, strain Josiah, was expressed in Escherichia coli as an N-terminally truncated, histidine-tagged recombinant protein. Following affinity purification the protein was completely denatured and spotted onto nitrocellulose membrane. A total of 1 microgram of protein was applied for detection of Lassa virus antibodies (LVA) in a simple immunoblot assay. Specific anti-Lassa immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies could be detected by increasing the amount of protein to 5 microgram. A panel of 913 serum specimens from regions in which Lassa virus was endemic and from regions in which Lassa virus was not endemic was used for evaluating the sensitivity and specificity of the LVA immunoblot in comparison to those of an indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) assay. The sera orig

SUBMITTER: Ter Meulen J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC105290 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature