Monoclonal antibodies against measles virus.

Monoclonal antibodies were produced in vitro by fusing mouse myeloma cells (SP2) with spleen cells derived from Balb/c mice immunized with purified measles virus. Fifteen independent hybrid cell lines, isolated from two separate fusions, were maintained in culture for up to 5 months without loss of their antibody-secreting activity. Radioimmunoprecipitation and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that in five of the hybrid lines the antibodies were directed against haemagglutinin, in two against the nucleoprotein, and in one against L protein. The remaining seven hybridomas did not precipitate viral antigens under the experimental conditions employed even though they gave positive immunofluorescence against measles virus-infected cells. Monoclonal haemagglutinin antibodies displayed anti-haemagglutinating activity and neutralized measles virus infectivity but not canine distemper virus (CDV).