PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF A MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY SPECIFIC FOR AN ECHOVIRUS CELLULAR RECEPTOR IN HUMAN FIBROBLAST AND SIMIAN KIDNEY-CELL LINES

We previously reported that infection of KB cells by echoviruses (EV) was inhibited by a KB-derived EV receptor murine monoclonal antibody (mAb 143). This antibody enabled the identification of a cellular receptor common to all echoviruses (with the exception of EV-22 and -23) and coxsackievirus (CV) A9, but different from the receptor of other picornaviruses. We now present results of cell protection assays conducted with human and simian cell lines different from the KB cell line used for production of mAb 143. When human embryonic lung fibroblasts were pretreated with 150 mug/ml of mAb 143, EV-11 and CV-A9 were completely inhibited (more than a 2-log difference compared to untreated cells). When the cell protection experiments were performed with Vero cells, the same results were observed with EV-33, but not with EV-22. The protection afforded human fibroblast cells by mAb 143 persisted for at least 5 days after 2-h exposure to 100 TCID50 of EV-11. These results suggest that EV receptors can be effectively blocked for prolonged periods in susceptible cells.