Antibody response to structural proteins of measles virus in patients with natural measles and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis.

By immunoprecipitation and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, antibody responses to the structural proteins of measles virus were examined on patients with various forms of natural measles, atypical measles, and subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). The serum of atypical measles most strongly reacted with four structural proteins, i.e., hemagglutinin (H), nucleocapsid (NC), fusion (F), and matrix (M) proteins. In natural measles, antibodies to the four structural proteins were detected at such an early convalescent stage as one month after the onset of disease. In late convalescent serums taken 9 years after natural measles, however, only low level antibody to M protein was present, whereas antibodies to H, NC and F proteins persisted. The serums and cerebrospinal fluid of SSPE patients showed patterns similar with those of the late convalescent serums. In Vero cells infected with cell-associated SSPE viruses (Niigata-1, ZH, and SI strains), M protein was not clearly demonstrated with serum of either atypical measles or SSPE patients, whereas H protein was demonstrated.