A model study of the use of monoclonal antibodies in capture enzyme immunoassays for antigen quantification exploiting the epitope map of tick-borne encephalitis virus.

On the basis of an epitope model, capture enzyme immunoassay systems using monoclonal antibodies have been devised for the detection and quantification of Tick-borne encephalitis virus and compared with a reference system employing polyclonal sera. Monoclonal antibodies were used both as capture and detector antibodies, their suitability depending primarily on their avidity and intrinsic background activity. A considerable increase in sensitivity was achieved by combining antibodies to different non-overlapping epitopes. Biotinylation of the detector antibodies allowed the construction of multiple site simultaneous binding assays. Furthermore the use of monoclonal antibodies of defined serological specificity made virus type identification possible. This assay can therefore be used as a rapid 'test of identity' as required during the manufacture of viral vaccines.