Monoclonal immunoglobulin M antibody to Japanese encephalitis virus that can react with a nuclear antigen in mammalian cells.

An immunoglobulin M (IgM) class monoclonal antibody raised against Japanese encephalitis virus reacted with an epitope on the nonstructural virus protein P74 (NV4 in the old nomenclature) of several flaviviruses and also with an antigen present in the nuclei of a variety of mammalian cell types. This antigen had a characteristic granular distribution by immunofluorescence and may correspond to a polypeptide of molecular weight 56,000 seen in nitrocellulose transfers of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. Cross-reactivity with nuclear antigen was also occasionally observed in the IgM antibody fraction of mice early after infection with Japanese encephalitis virus and also in acute sera from some clinical cases of encephalitis containing IgM antibody to Japanese encephalitis virus.