title: Measurement of antibodies to varicella-zoster virus using a virus-free fluorescent-antibody-to-membrane-antigen (FAMA) test.
abstract: The fluorescent-antibody-to-membrane-antigen (FAMA) test is regarded as the "gold standard" to detect protective antibodies to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) because of its high sensitivity and specificity. Because the classic FAMA test uses an infectious virus for detection of antibodies to VZV, it is labor-intensive, and also requires special equipment for handling the virus. For this reason, we attempted to develop a simple and safe FAMA assay. Because VZV glycoprotein E (gE) is one of the major VZV glycoproteins, we used the gE protein for the FAMA test (gE FAMA). Here, we demonstrate that overexpression of gE in HEK293T cells can be used to measure antibodies in human serum, and that gE FAMA titers are closely correlated with gpEIA ELISA data. These results indicate that our gE FAMA test has the potential to measure antibodies to VZV.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biological Science and Technology, Yonsei University, Wonju 220-710, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Rackhyun
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Ji Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Kang Il
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Namkoong
authors.forename: Seuk-Keun
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Songyong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hosun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Junsoo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000906:Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique / Q000379:methods*; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D014645:Herpesvirus 3, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C056913:glycoprotein E, varicella-zoster virus