Production and Evaluation of Polyclonal Antibody Against Influenza A Virus Matrix 2 Conserved Protein for Research and Diagnosis Purposes

Background and aims: the aim of this study was to produce and purify the polyclonal antibody(pab) against matrix protein 2 (m2) with reasonable efficiency. matrix protein 2 is one of the most conserved proteins of the influenza a virus which acts as ion channel. polyclonal antibodyproduced against matrix protein 2 is used in vaccine research, passive immunization and qualitative/quantitative analysis methods. materials and methods: recombinant m2 protein was produced in e.coli. purified protein with freund’s adjuvants (complete and incomplete) was injected into two new-zealand white male rabbits. the polyclonal antisera of rabbits were evaluated by rid, immunoblotting and elisa. the igg was purified using daea-cellulose column chromatography. finally, the quality and properties of purified igg were evaluated using sds-page and elisa . results: the rid and immunoblotting results showed that the produced anti-m2 antibody was able to recognize m2 recombinant protein epitopes. the elisa results confirmed anti- m2 pab reached reasonable titers after three injections. igg against m2 was purified with suitable concentration. the purified polyclonal igg-m2 was evaluated using elisa and the results showed igg-m2 reacted with the antigen up to 1:32000. conclusions: the data showed that recombinant m2 protein was able to stimulate immune response to produce antibody at satisfactory level.