Neutralizing human recombinant antibodies against herpes simplex virus type 1 glycoproteins B from a phage-displayed scFv antibody library

The HSV-1 envelope glycoprotein B (gB) plays a critical role in virus entry into host cells. Neutralizing antibodies can therefore potentially prevent virus entry into target cells and cell-to-cell spread of infection. Our present study focused on the selection of neutralizing single-chain Fv (scFv) antibodies of a phage-displayed nonimmune human scFv antibody library against gB of HSV-1. To enrich specific scFvs, two phage antibodies were isolated against amino acid residues 31-43 derived from the N-terminal part of gB using panning technique. Two scFvs, scFv-gB1 and scFv-gB2, with frequencies of 45% and 20% were obtained from scFv clones after performing PCR and MvaI fingerprinting. In phage ELISA analysis, both gB1 and gB2 scFvs demonstrated high reactivity with the gB peptide. In the neutralization assay, scFv-gB1 and scFv-gB2 represented neutralizing effects of 55% and 59%, respectively. Upon further enhancement of the neutralizing effects of these antibodies, they can be considered as new potential alternatives in the treatment and prophylaxis of HSV-1 infections.