However, due to the lack of a specific and sensitive

monoclonal antibody, there are no serologic tests available against H7 AIV. Microneutralization is currently used as the “gold standard” for subtyping. However, the test is labor-intensive and its sensitivity is limited, rendering it impractical for rapid and high-throughput diagnostics. The HI test click here and indirect ELISA are considered to be simple serology tests. However, low sensitivity and subtype cross-reactivity significantly limit the value of these assays [11]. Competitive ELISAs (cELISA), also called epitope blocking ELISAs, are widely used for serological detection of antibodies to influenza viruses [12], mainly due to their sensitivity and simplicity. The cELISA makes

it possible to provide general assays for testing sera from different avian species, humans, and other species without changing any of the test reagents [13]. It is a challenge to combine AC-ELISA and cELISA on the same plate with the same amount of antibodies. The selected Mabs are required to Selleck Semaxanib target conserved antigenic epitopes and compete to host antibodies in infected sera for the epitope binding. In this study, two H7 Mabs were identified to meet these requirements and assembled in a dual-function-ELISA for universal H7 diagnosis via either antigen or antibody detection. The sensitivity and specificity for both functions were evaluated. The results indicated that for the first time, antigen and antibody detection could be performed with the same device and Mabs for specific and sensitive H7 AIV detection. Methods Ethics statement

All animal experiments were carried out in accordance with the Guidelines for Animal Experiments of the National Institute of see more Infectious Diseases (NIID). Experimental protocols were reviewed and approved by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, National University of Singapore, Singapore. (IACUC approval number TLL-10-012). All experiments involving human H7 strains were performed in a biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) containment laboratory in compliance with CDC/NIH and WHO recommendations and were approved by the Agri HSP90 Veterinary Authority (AVA) of Singapore. Viruses and cell lines The viruses used were listed in Table 1. H7N1 (A/Chicken/Malaysia/94) and part of other non-H7 AIV strains were obtained from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore. Reassortant influenza virus H7N3 (A/Canada/rv504/04), H7N6 (A/quail/Aichi/3/09), H7N7 (A/duck/Hokkaido/1/10), H7N7 (A/Netherlands/219/03), H2, H6, H8, H11-H13, H5N1 (A/Vietnam/VN1203/03/) and H1N1 (A/TLL51/Singapore/09) were generated by reverse genetics as described previously [14]. Briefly, the complementary DNA of the HA and NA genes of influenza viruses were synthesized based on the sequences from the NCBI influenza database while the six cDNAs of the internal genes were synthesized based on the PR8 (A/Puerto Rico/8/1934) virus sequence (GenScript, USA).