Improved detection sensitivity of anti-PRV variant antibodies through preparation of anti-gB and anti-gE monoclonal antibodies and development of blocking ELISAs

Since 2011, PRV has resurged in China and is characterized by a mutated strain with significant alterations in antigenicity and virulence. Therefore, we hypothesized that antibody detection kits based on classic PRV strains may have limitations in detecting PRV variants. For more sensitive antibody detection of PRV variants, two MABs targeting the gB and gE proteins were developed. IFA revealed that these MABs exhibited strong reactivity toward both classic and variant PRV strains. MAB-gE recognizes a novel conserved linear B-cell epitope (⁴¹PSAEVWD⁴⁷), while MAB-gB recognizes a conformational B-cell epitope. The binding of both MABs was effectively inhibited in the PRV-positive pig blood samples. Accordingly, we established blocking-ELISAs to detect anti-PRV gB and gE antibodies, which achieved higher sensitivity than commercial kits. Moreover, the clinical serum samples results of our method and that of IFA were in high agreement, and our test results had a higher coincidence rate than that of a commercial kit. Assessing antibody levels by our methods at various times following immunization and challenge accurately reflected the trend of antibody-level changes and revealed the conversion to positive antibody status before the commercial kit. Our method is crucial for monitoring PRV infections, assessing immune responses, and controlling disease.