AUTHOR=Vial Cecilia , Whitaker Annalis , Wilhelm Jan , Ovalle Jimena , Perez Ruth , Valdivieso Francisca , Ferres Marcela , Martinez-Valdebenito Constanza , Eisenhauer Philip , Mertz Gregory J. , Hooper Jay W. , Botten Jason W. , Vial Pablo A. 

TITLE=Comparison of VSV Pseudovirus and Focus Reduction Neutralization Assays for Measurement of Anti-Andes orthohantavirus Neutralizing Antibodies in Patient Samples

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2020.00444

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2020.00444

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Andes orthohantavirus</italic> (ANDV) is the etiologic agent of hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), which has a case fatality rate around 35%, with no effective treatment or vaccine available. ANDV neutralizing antibody (NAb) measurements are important for the evaluation of the immune response following infection, vaccination, or passive administration of investigational monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies. The standard assay for NAb measurement is a focus reduction neutralization test (FRNT) featuring live ANDV and must be completed under biosafety level (BSL)-3 conditions. In this study, we compared neutralization assays featuring infectious ANDV or vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) pseudovirions decorated with ANDV glycoproteins for their ability to measure anti-ANDV NAbs from patient samples. Our studies demonstrate that VSV pseudovirions effectively measure NAb from clinical samples and have greater sensitivity compared to FRNT with live ANDV. Importantly, the pseudovirus assay requires less labor and sample materials and can be conducted at BSL-2.</p>