THE DEVELOPMENT OF ELISA KIT FOR DETECTION OF ANTIBODIES TO TICK-BORNE ENCEPHALITIS VIRUS
The purpose of the work was the definition of antigenic determinant of glycoprotein E of the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and the development of a kit for detection of total antibodies to it, based on the «sandwich technique» of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Modern genetic engineering techniques have been applied for development of this ELISA kit. As a result three antigenic determinants E1, E2 and E3 of glycoprotein E of TBEV were defined. With the solid-phase ELISA applied, the ability of antigenic determinant E3 to bind with antibodies to TBEV specifically and with a high sensitivity was revealed. The determinant E3 served a basis for development of «AT-TBE», the ELISA kit aimed to detect total antibodies to TBE. The sensitivity and specificity of the «ATTBE» kit amounted to 100 %, with analytical sensitivity being 10 pg/ml.