Sensitivity of Various H Particles of Poliovirus to Alkaline Treatment

Abstract

Four kinds of H antigenic particles (H particles) of poliovirus were prepared, (1) by mild alkaline treatment of virions (Alkaline-H), (2) by separation from the virus infected culture (Natural-H), (3) by ultraviolet irradiation of virions (UV-H), (4) by heating of virions (Heat-H). They were examined for sensitivity to an alkaline degradation (pH 10.5 at 40 C). Heat-H was most stable and no degradation of capsid was observed after the treatment. UV-H was most unstable, since it was completely disrupted into small components after the treatment. Alkaline-H and Natural-H were relatively stable but a minor amount of small component(s) was liberated therefrom by the treatment. These results suggest that the H particles induced by the four procedures are different from each other in the stability of capsid structure. Furthermore, it is suggested that the antigenicity(s) of the small-size component(s) is different from either N or H antigenicity being ascribable to VP2 polymer.