Monoclonal antibody analysis of a unique macrophage procoagulant activity induced by murine hepatitis virus strain 3 infection.

A panel of 24 IgG2ak monoclonal antibodies was produced against murine hepatitis virus strain 3 (MHV-3)-induced procoagulant activity (PCA) from murine macrophages. The antibodies were specific and did not react in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with purified MHV-3; lipopolysaccharide-induced PCA; crude mouse, human, or rabbit tissue factor, or unstimulated murine macrophages. Sixteen of 24 monoclonal antibodies inhibited functional PCA expression in a one-stage clotting assay. More detailed studies on one monoclonal antibody, 3D4.3, demonstrated that it inhibited prothrombin cleavage at concentrations of greater than or equal to 0.1 microgram/ml, and by Western blot this antibody reacted with proteins of a molecular mass of 140, 74, and 70 kDa on nonreduced gels and 74 and 70 kDa on reduced gels distinct from tissue factor known to have a molecular mass of 47 kDa. Induction of PCA was dependent on both host RNA and protein synthesis. Immunofluorescence studies showed specific binding to MHV-3-stimulated PCA-positive macrophage membranes. Both numbers of positive macrophages and intensity of staining correlated with multiplicity of infection. These monoclonal antibodies will be useful in isolation and characterization of the unique viral-induced PCA as well as in determining its biologic role in MHV infection and other diseases in which the prothrombinase has been implicated.