PURIFICATION OF ANTIBODIES TO INFLUENZA A VIRUS STRUCTURAL PROTEINS BY AFFINITY CHROMATOGRAPHY, AND THEIR PARTICIPATION IN HAEMAGGLUTINATION-INHIBITION, NEUTRALIZATION AND ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY

Affinity chromatography was used to purify rabbit antibodies to common and strain-specific antigeneic determinants of haemagglutinin, to neuraminidase, and to a combination of the internal proteins of influenza A viruses. The purity of the antibodies was assessed by haemagglutination-inhibition, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and competition ELISA. The antibodies were examined for their participation in neutralization and haemagglutination-inhibition assays, and in ELISA. ELISA was found to be the most sensitive technique for detecting antibodies. Antibodies to the common and strain-specific determinants of haemagglutinin were shown to participate in neutralization assays and ELISA, but only those antibodies to the common determinants were detected by haemagglutination-inhibition.