In vivo time-related evaluation of a therapeutic neutralization monoclonal antibody against lethal enterovirus 71 infection in a mouse model

PLoS One. 2014 Oct 3;9(10):e109391. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0109391. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is a neurotropic virus capable of inducing severe neurological symptoms and death. No direct targeting antivirals are useful in the treatment of severe EV71 infection. Because of low toxicity and good specificity, monoclonal antibodies (MAb) are a potential candidate for the treatment of viral infections. Therefore, we developed an EV71-specific conformational MAb with high in vitro cross-neutralization activity to heterologous EV71 subgenotypes. The in vivo treatment experiment at different days post-infection indicated that a single treatment of MAb CT11F9 within day 3 post-infection fully protected mice from morbidity and mortality (0% PBS vs. 100% at 10 µg/g per body weight ***P<0.0001). Immunohistochemical and histological analysis confirmed that CT11F9 significantly prohibited EV71 VP1 expression in various tissues and prevented EV71-induced myonecrosis. Moreover, thrice-treatment at day 4, 5, 6 post-infection was associated with an increased survival rate (18.2% single vs. 50% thrice at 20 µg/g per body weight), and the mice recovered from limb paralysis. Competitive ELISA also confirmed that CT11F9-recognized epitopes were immunodominant in humans. In conclusion, MAb CT11F9 is an ideal candidate to be humanized and used in severe EV71 infection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / immunology
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal / therapeutic use*
  • Antibodies, Viral / immunology
  • Antibodies, Viral / therapeutic use*
  • Enterovirus A, Human / immunology*
  • Enterovirus Infections / drug therapy*
  • Enterovirus Infections / immunology
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Neutralization Tests

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Antibodies, Viral

Grants and funding

This work was supported by National Science and Technology Major Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (No. 2010ZX09401-403), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30972826), and National Natural Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (No. 30925030). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of manuscript.