Development of a high-throughput β-Gal-based neutralization assay for quantitation of herpes simplex virus-neutralizing antibodies in human samples

Measurement of neutralizing antibodies against herpes simplex virus (HSV) is important for evaluation of candidate vaccines. The established plaque-reduction neutralization assay is time consuming, labor intensive, and difficult to validate and transfer. Here, we describe the characterization of a HSV-neutralization assay based on the expression of a reporter gene, β-galactosidase (β-Gal). Using previously constructed HSV-β-Gal recombinant viruses, HSV-2/Gal and HSV-1/tk12, we developed a colorimetric β-Gal-based neutralization assay that is sensitive and highly reproducible, and performed in less than 48 h. HSV-1 and HSV-2 neutralizing titers measured by the β-Gal-based neutralization assay were equivalent to those obtained by a plaque reduction neutralization assay. Intra- and inter-assay precision studies demonstrated that the β-Gal-based assay was repeatable and yielded low and acceptable variation. In addition, comparison of HSV-2 neutralizing antibody (NAb) titers measured in two independent laboratories by two unique β-Gal-based assays showed a highly significant correlation (r = 0.9499, p < 0.0001) between the two assays. The new assay will serve as an important tool both for preclinical and clinical trials of new HSV vaccines.