Development of a pseudovirus based assay for measuring neutralizing antibodies against coxsackievirus B5

- Replicon RNA of coxsackievirus B3 (CV-B3) can be encapsidated with capsid proteins of coxsackievirus B5 (CV-B5).
- A robust pseudovirus infection system was established for CV-B5.
- A sensitive quantitative assay for measuring neutralizing antibodies against CV-B5 was developed.

Coxsackievirus B5 (CV-B5), an important Coxsackie B virus from genus Enteroviruse within the family Picornaviridae, has also been isolated from Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD) patients, and often associated with neurological manifestations. In this study, we found out that Coxsackievirus B3 (CV-B3) replicon RNA could be encapsidated with CV-B5 capsid to assemble infectious CV-B5 pseudovirus. We then utilized this single round infection system of CV-B5 to develop a neutralizing antibody quantification assay. This pseudovirus neutralization assay showed superiority in biosafety, sensibility, quantitativity, efficiency and high throughput, and would facilitate the epidemiological studies and vaccine development of CV-B5.