Sin Nombre virus (SNV), Andes virus (ANDV), and Laguna Negra virus (LANV) have been known as the dominant causative agents of
hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). ANDV and LANV, with different patterns of pathogenicity, exist in a sympatric relationship. Moreover, there is documented evidence of person-to-person transmission of ANDV. Therefore, it is important in clinical medicine and epidemiology to know the serotype of a hantavirus causing
infection. Truncated SNV, ANDV, and LANV recombinant
nucleocapsid proteins (trNs) missing 99 N-terminal
amino acids (trN100) were expressed using a baculovirus system, and their applicability for serotyping SNV, ANDV, and LANV
infection by the use of
enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assays (ELISA) was examined. HPS patient sera and natural-reservoir rodent sera infected with SNV, ANDV, and LANV showed the highest optical density (OD) values for homologous trN100
antigens. Since even patient sera with lower
IgM and
IgG antibody titers were serotyped, the trN100s are therefore considered useful for serotyping with early-acute-phase sera. In contrast, assays testing whole recombinant
nucleocapsid protein antigens of SNV, ANDV, and LANV expressed in Escherichia coli detected homologous and
heterologous antibodies equally. These results indicated that a screening ELISA using an E. coli-expressed
antigen followed by a serotyping ELISA using trN100s is useful for epidemiological surveillance in regions where two or more hantavirus species cocirculate.