M. Niikura et al., Detection of Ebola viral antigen by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using a novel monoclonal antibody to nucleoprotein, J CLIN MICR, 39(9), 2001, pp. 3267-3271
With the increase in international traffic, the risk of introducing rare bu
t severe infectious diseases like Ebola hemorrhagic fever is increasing all
over the world. However, the system for the diagnosis of Ebola virus infec
tion is available in a limited number of countries. In the present study, w
e developed an Ebola virus antigen-detection enzyme-linked immunosorbent as
say (ELISA) system using a novel monoclonal antibody (MAb) to the nucleopro
tein (NP). This antibody recognized an epitope defined by a 26-amino-acid s
tretch near the C terminus of NP. In a sandwich ELISA system with the MAb,
as little as 30 ng of purified recombinant NP (rNP) was detected. Although
this MAb was prepared by immunization with rNP of subtype Zaire, it also re
acted to the corresponding region of NP derived from the Reston and Sudan s
ubtypes. These results suggest that our ELISA system should work with three
of four Ebola subtypes. Furthermore, our ELISA system detected the NP in s
ubtype Reston-infected monkey specimens, while the background level in noni
nfected specimens was very low, suggesting the usefulness of the ELISA for
laboratory diagnosis with clinical specimens.