Serologic analysis of human rotavirus serotypes P1A and P2 by using monoclonal antibodies

Three human rotavirus (HRV) VP4 serotypes and one subtype have been described on the basis of a fourfold or an eightfold-or-greater difference in neutralization titer when tested with hyperimmune antisera to recombinant VP4 or VP8* (serotypes P1A, P1B, P2, and P3). To start to analyze the antigenic basis underlying serotype specificity, we produced a library of 13 VP4-specific neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (NMAbs) to two HRVs, the serotype P1A strain Wa and the serotype P2 strain ST3, and characterized the reactivity of these NMAbs with a panel of serotypically diverse HRV strains by neutralization assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). We characterized the serotypic specificity of the NMAbs by using a fourfold or an eightfold-or-greater difference in titer against the homologous (i.e., immunogen) and heterologous strains as a criterion for serotype. Some ST3-derived NMAbs reacted specifically with serotype P2 HRVs by ELISA and/or neutralization assay, while some Wa-derived NMAbs reacted specifically by ELISA and/or neutralization assay with some or all serotype P1A HRVs. Other Wa- and ST3-derived NMAbs reacted with some or all serotype P1A and P2 HRV strains by neutralization assay and ELISA. Most NMAbs did not react with serotype P1B or P3 strains. In previous studies, three distinct operationally defined epitopes have been identified on VP4 by examining the reactivity patterns of selected antigenic variants of HRV strain KU. At least one of the NMAbs described here recognizes an epitope unrelated to these previously identified epitopes, since it neutralized both KU and its variants.