Development of the Tick-born Encephalitis Virus Test System Based on Bioluminescent Immunoassay
Ludmila Alekseevna Frank, Alexander Nikolaevich Kudryavtsev, Ksenia Artemovna Barinova, Ludmilа Petrovna Burakova
Abstract
Solid-phase bioluminescent immunoassay of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) in ticks based on the hybrid protein of a modified thermostable version of Renilla luciferase and a single-chain mini-antibody to protein E was developed. Rational conditions for production and storage of the system elements – hybrid protein, a stable form of the luciferase substrate, and activated microplates were found. With the developed test system applied, more than 900 tick samples were analyzed for TBEV. In terms of sensitivity – 89.5% and specificity – 98.9%, the proposed method ranks with immunoassay with colorimetric detection and is much simpler and faster at that