ANTIGENIC RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE MEMBERS OF ADENOVIRUS SUBGENERA DETERMINED BY MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES

Epitope composition of human adenovirus (AV) serotype 13 (subgenus A), 19, 26 and 27 (subgenus D), as well as 41 (subgenus F) was studied wi th 23 selected monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) raised against different h exon types. With the help of three panels of MAbs great differences we re shown in the epitope structure of subgenus D hexons. Comparing two AV13 strain hexons (a prototype strain and an intermediate strain), it was shown that the epitopes recognized by the MAbs were present in di fferent combinations even on strains of the same serotype. Therefore t he epitope composition of the subgenus D hexons seems to be heterogene ous.