Humoral and Cellular Immunity to Varicella-Zoster Virus Glycoprotein gpI and to a Non-glycosylated Protein, p170, in the Strain 2 Guinea-pig

Strain 2 guinea-pigs were inoculated with infectious varicella-zoster vi us (VZV) or with immunoaflinity-purified proteins of VZV. Monoclonal antibodies to the VZV gpI (90000/58 000 complex) and to a non-glycosylated protein, p170, were used to prepare the polypeptide antigens. Humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to the infectious virus were compared with those elicited by the gpI and p170 proteins. Both VZV IgG antibody production and T lymphocyte proliferation to VZV were detected after immunization with infectious VZV and with VZV proteins. The antibody and T lymphocyte responses waned after protein immunization in comparison with the responses induced by infectious VZV but were detected again immediately after reimmunization with gpI or p170. The study of the pathogenesis of varicella-zoster virus (VZV) infection is hampered by the lack of an appropriate animal model. Simian variceUa virus is antigenically related to human VZV but the disease caused by the former in primates is usually much more severe than VZV infection in the healthy human host (Arvin et al., 1983). Although infection of the guinea-pig with VZV does not produce disease, Myers et al. (1985) observed that human VZV passaged i