Development of a highly specific serodiagnostic ELISA for West Nile virus infection using subviral particles

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 9213 - 10
• Main Authors: Maezono, Keisuke, Kobayashi, Shintaro, Tabata, Koshiro, Yoshii, Kentaro, Kariwa, Hiroaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 28.04.2021; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/326/596/1879; 631/326/596/2562; Antigenicity; Cross-reactivity; E protein; Encephalitis; Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; Horses; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Neutralization; PrM protein; Proteins; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Vector-borne diseases; Viruses; West Nile virus
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88777-5

West Nile virus (WNV), a member of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) serocomplex group, causes lethal encephalitis in humans and horses. Because serodiagnosis of WNV and JEV is hampered by cross-reactivity, the development of a simple, secure, and WNV-specific serodiagnostic system is required. The coexpression of prM protein and E protein leads to the secretion of subviral particles (SPs). Deletion of the C-terminal region of E protein is reported to affect the production of SPs by some flaviviruses. However, the influence of such a deletion on the properties and antigenicity of WNV E protein is unclear. We analyzed the properties of full-length E protein and E proteins lacking the C-terminal region as novel serodiagnostics for WNV infection. Deletion of the C-terminal region of E protein suppressed the formation of SPs but did not affect the production of E protein. The sensitivity of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the full-length E protein was higher than that using the truncated E proteins. Furthermore, in the ELISA using full-length E protein, there was little cross-reactivity with anti-JEV antibodies, and the sensitivity was similar to that of the neutralization test.