Measurement of antibody-dependent infection enhancement of four dengue virus serotypes by monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies

Abstract

Although its underlying mechanisms are poorly understood, data comparing each of the four dengue virus serotypes suggest that in vitro antibody-dependent infection enhancement is a reproducible and measurable phenomenon related to other serological measures of antibody-virus binding. Information characterizing infection enhancement may provide clues to disease pathogenesis for dengue and other viruses that exhibit antibody-enhanced infection. We propose criteria for the detection and quantification of in vitro antibody-dependent enhancement of flavivirus infection based on observations using all four dengue virus serotypes, macrophage-like cell lines and human peripheral blood monocytes, and various immune sera and monoclonal antibodies. It is proposed that antibody-dependent infection enhancement is defined by the following findings: (i) significantly increased virus production is measured in quantitative assays at different points on the growth curve; (ii) assays of the virus output of cells infected with mixtures of constant amounts of virus and serial dilutions of the pre-existing antibody source produce characteristic 'enhancement profiles' of rising and falling virus output over at least a 10(-3)-fold dilution range; (iii) for each enhancing antibody source the dilution producing maximal infection enhancement is related to other serological measures of binding to the envelope, or another virus component; (iv) infection enhancement is detected with different antibody sources and virus strains (when available) tested over a range of m.o.i.; (v) other causes of enhanced virus production are ruled out.