A chemiluminescence detection method of hantaviral antigens in neutralisation assays and inhibitor studies.

A protocol for chemiluminescence detection of hantaviral antigens in infected cell foci is described. This focus detection is based on the conversion of a substrate into a luminescent product by peroxidase-antibody conjugates; the emitted light of infected cell foci can easily be recorded by autoradiography or video imaging providing a hard copy for documentation. The main advantage of this method as compared to conventional immunochemical staining is a higher detection sensitivity due to the inherent magnification effect of luminescence causing an obvious boost in focal image and intensity. This enables reduction of (i) incubation time of virus-infected cells and (ii) amount of needed antibody for antigen detection in foci. This method is applied to a chemiluminescence focus reduction assay for the serotyping of hantavirus-specific neutralising antibodies in infected persons and for the determination of activity of antiviral agents against hantavirus.