Reactivity of Anti-peptide and Anti-poliovirus Type 3 Monoclonal Antibodies with Synthetic Peptides

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Abstract
Monoclonal antibodies were prepared from mice immunized with an 18-residue synthetic peptide with an amino acid sequence from a major antigenic sequence involved in the neutralization of type 3 poliovirus. Approximately 250 hybridomas secreted antibodies that reacted with the peptide but not the virus, two antibodies reacted with the virus but not the peptide and no antibody reacted with both. Conversely 26 monoclonal antibodies prepared from mice immunized with type 3 poliovirus and known to be directed against the appropriate sequence on the virus, generally failed to react with the peptide. These results might be expected if only a small proportion of the free or coupled peptide molecules adopt molecular conformations which resemble that of the homologous antigenic site in the virus. Antibodies specific for other antigens occasionally reacted well with the synthetic peptides, indicating that antibodies may bind to peptides of inappropriate sequence. The identification of antigenic sites by the use of synthetic peptides therefore requires considerable caution.