RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Gillet, Laurent A1 Gill, Michael B. A1 Colaco, Susanna A1 Smith, Christopher M. A1 Stevenson, Philip G.YR 2006 T1 Murine gammaherpesvirus-68 glycoprotein B presents a difficult neutralization target to monoclonal antibodies derived from infected mice JF Journal of General Virology, VO 87 IS 12 SP 3515 OP 3527 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/vir.0.82313-0 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2099, AB Persistent viruses disseminate from immune hosts. They must therefore resist neutralization by antibody. Murine gammaherpesvirus-68 (MHV-68) represents an accessible model with which to address how resistance to neutralization is achieved and how overcoming it might improve infection control. The MHV-68 glycoprotein B (gB), like that of other herpesviruses, is a virion protein that is essential for infectivity. As such, it presents a potential neutralization target. In order to test whether virus-induced antibodies reduce virion infectivity by binding to gB, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were derived from MHV-68-infected mice. gB-specific mAbs were common, but only an IgM specific for the gB N terminus reduced virion infectivity significantly. It inhibited MHV-68 entry into BHK-21 cells at a post-binding step that was linked closely to membrane fusion. Reducing the mAb to IgM monomers compromised neutralization severely, suggesting that a pentameric structure was crucial to its function. Antibody treatment never blocked BHK-21 cell infection completely and blocked the infection of NMuMG epithelial cells hardly at all. Virions saturated with antibody also remained infectious to mice. Thus, the MHV-68 gB presents at best a very difficult target for antibody-mediated neutralization., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jgv/10.1099/vir.0.82313-0