Detection of antibody to viral proteins following primary infection with herpes simplex virus

Sera from patients with primary genital infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV) were tested by immunoblotting (IB) and radioimmunoprecipitation (RIP) analysis to determine the protein targets of antibody elicited by infection. The two tests detected antibody to different antigens: IB primarily detected reactivity with p40, a phosphorylated capsid protein, and RIP detected antibody to glycoprotein B, a viral envelope component. Furthermore, RIP detected antibody at an earlier stage of infection then IB. A nondenaturing version of IB was developed and used to investigate the role that the solubilisation of antigen plays in the sensitivity of each test for antibodies with different specificities.