Detection of Antibodies to Herpes Simplex Virus with a Continuous Cell Line Expressing Cloned Glycoprotein D

The gene for glycoprotein D of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) was expressed in stable mammalian cell lines. Glycoprotein D produced in these cells has a number of antigenic determinants in common with the native glycoprotein. Cell lines expressing glycoprotein D were used in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect human antibodies to glycoprotein D. This strategy should prove useful in determining the extent to which the immune response to HSV-1 is directed toward glycoprotein D.