MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AND RECOMBINANT PROTEINS OF FILOVIRUSES: IMMUNOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND EVALUATION OF THEIR EFFICIENCY FOR IMMUNE DIAGNOSTICS OF MARBURG AND EBOLA VIRUSES

A panel of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against VP35, VP40 and NP viral proteins of Marburg and Ebola viruses, as well as recombinant VP35, VP40 and NP proteins were generated and tested for their capacity to specific immune reactions. Monoclonal antibodies to appropriate viral proteins effectively recognized the VP35, VP40 and NP recombinant proteins, thus allowing to develop a variant of a MAb-based ELISA analysis with different types of biotin-labeled MAbs, using these antibodies for capturing viral and recombinant antigens of Marburg and Ebola viruses. These techniques were able to detect viral and recombinant proteins in a concentration range between 1 and 150 ng/ml. We conclude that the recombinant VP35, VP40 and NP proteins of filoviruses, as well as MAbs against these viral proteins represent a promising tool for a new generation of immunodiagnostic kits and studying immunological features of filovirus infection.