Rapid detection of antigenic diversity of Akabane virus isolates by dot immunobinding assay using neutralizing monoclonal antibodies.

Akabane (AKA) virus is an arthropod-borne virus belonging to the Simbu group of the genus Bunyavirus. Neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against AKA virus were prepared, and the neutralizing epitopes of the virus were defined by competitive binding assay. Five distinct antigenic domains were identified and were designated A, B, C, D, and E. Domains A and C consisted of two epitopes each. It was demonstrated that seven neutralizing epitopes exist on the G1 glycoprotein of AKA virus. Dot immunobinding assays (DIAs) were performed with MAbs which recognize these seven neutralizing epitopes. The results were similar to those obtained by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. DIAs were performed using two Australian strains, one isolate from Taiwan, and isolates from Japan collected between the years 1959 and 1994, for a total of 63 isolates. The MAb response patterns were divided into five groups: the OBE-1 strain, the JaGAr39 strain, the Iriki strain, a group which consisted of features between those of the JaGAr39 strain and Iriki strain groups, and a group which did not belong to any of these patterns. The isolates which showed patterns similar to that of the JaGAr39 strain were found mostly among the isolates collected in 1974 and 1990, and isolates with patterns of MAb responses similar to the pattern of the Iriki strain were found mostly in the 1985 isolates. Those showing patterns in between were found mostly around 1977, 1987, and 1994. The results show that DIA can be used to effectively compare the antigenicities of AKA virus isolates within a few hours, even with lesser amounts of virus culture than is required for other assays.