Delineation of putative mechanisms involved in antibody-mediated clearance of rabies virus from the central nervous system.

The in vitro biological activities of several rabies virus-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were compared with their ability to prevent a lethal rabies virus encephalomyelitis. The protective activity of a particular mAb in vivo did not correlate with its virus-neutralizing activity in vitro; rather it was related to the mAb's ability to inhibit virus spread from cell to cell and to restrict rabies virus RNA transcription. Since treatment of rabies virus-infected cells with virus-neutralizing mAbs results in an endocytosis of the antibody, we hypothesize that an antibody may exert its inhibitory activity even after uptake by the cell. Post-exposure treatment of rats with a mAb that inhibited both virus spread and virus RNA transcription in vitro resulted in viral clearance from the central nervous system and protected the animals against a lethal rabies virus infection.