Evolution of the PRNT: Merging tradition and innovation to set the gold standard in the era of automation

The plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) is the gold standard for quantifying neutralizing antibodies owing to its high sensitivity and specificity. Widely used in seroepidemiological studies and vaccine development, PRNT is limited by labor-intensive procedures, reliance on highly skilled st...

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Main Authors: Caio Denani, Ingrid Horbach, Bruno Setatino, Adriana Azevedo, Sheila Lima, Waleska Schwarcz, Ivanildo Sousa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21645515.2025.2528368
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author Caio Denani
Ingrid Horbach
Bruno Setatino
Adriana Azevedo
Sheila Lima
Waleska Schwarcz
Ivanildo Sousa
author_facet Caio Denani
Ingrid Horbach
Bruno Setatino
Adriana Azevedo
Sheila Lima
Waleska Schwarcz
Ivanildo Sousa
author_sort Caio Denani
collection DOAJ
description The plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) is the gold standard for quantifying neutralizing antibodies owing to its high sensitivity and specificity. Widely used in seroepidemiological studies and vaccine development, PRNT is limited by labor-intensive procedures, reliance on highly skilled staff, and susceptibility to human bias during manual plaque counting. These limitations hinder reproducibility, throughput, and cross-laboratory standardization. This review summarizes recent efforts to automate PRNT workflows to address these issues. However, automation adoption is often constrained by high costs and the need for regulatory frameworks to ensure data integrity. Advancements in tailored hardware and software to diverse laboratory contexts are essential to maintaining PRNT’s role in immunological assessments, bridging seroneutralizing methodologies with modern automation, and making automated methods more accessible. This review outlines the key requirements for PRNT’s continued evolution.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2164-5515
2164-554X
language English
publishDate 2025-12-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
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series Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics
spelling doaj-art-8bd670cdaeab413baed8feee4b8605762025-08-20T03:28:55ZengTaylor & Francis GroupHuman Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics2164-55152164-554X2025-12-0121110.1080/21645515.2025.2528368Evolution of the PRNT: Merging tradition and innovation to set the gold standard in the era of automationCaio Denani0Ingrid Horbach1Bruno Setatino2Adriana Azevedo3Sheila Lima4Waleska Schwarcz5Ivanildo Sousa6Laboratório de Análise Imunomolecular, Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiológicos Bio-Manguinhos, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, BrasilLaboratório de Análise Imunomolecular, Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiológicos Bio-Manguinhos, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, BrasilLaboratório de Análise Imunomolecular, Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiológicos Bio-Manguinhos, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, BrasilLaboratório de Análise Imunomolecular, Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiológicos Bio-Manguinhos, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, BrasilDepartamento de Desenvolvimento Experimental e Pré-clínico (DEDEP), Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiológicos Bio-Manguinhos, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, BrasilLaboratório de Análise Imunomolecular, Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiológicos Bio-Manguinhos, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, BrasilLaboratório de Virologia e Parasitologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, BrasilThe plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) is the gold standard for quantifying neutralizing antibodies owing to its high sensitivity and specificity. Widely used in seroepidemiological studies and vaccine development, PRNT is limited by labor-intensive procedures, reliance on highly skilled staff, and susceptibility to human bias during manual plaque counting. These limitations hinder reproducibility, throughput, and cross-laboratory standardization. This review summarizes recent efforts to automate PRNT workflows to address these issues. However, automation adoption is often constrained by high costs and the need for regulatory frameworks to ensure data integrity. Advancements in tailored hardware and software to diverse laboratory contexts are essential to maintaining PRNT’s role in immunological assessments, bridging seroneutralizing methodologies with modern automation, and making automated methods more accessible. This review outlines the key requirements for PRNT’s continued evolution.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21645515.2025.2528368PRNTautomationneutralizing antibodiesvaccine development
spellingShingle Caio Denani
Ingrid Horbach
Bruno Setatino
Adriana Azevedo
Sheila Lima
Waleska Schwarcz
Ivanildo Sousa
Evolution of the PRNT: Merging tradition and innovation to set the gold standard in the era of automation
Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics
PRNT
automation
neutralizing antibodies
vaccine development
title Evolution of the PRNT: Merging tradition and innovation to set the gold standard in the era of automation
title_full Evolution of the PRNT: Merging tradition and innovation to set the gold standard in the era of automation
title_fullStr Evolution of the PRNT: Merging tradition and innovation to set the gold standard in the era of automation
title_full_unstemmed Evolution of the PRNT: Merging tradition and innovation to set the gold standard in the era of automation
title_short Evolution of the PRNT: Merging tradition and innovation to set the gold standard in the era of automation
title_sort evolution of the prnt merging tradition and innovation to set the gold standard in the era of automation
topic PRNT
automation
neutralizing antibodies
vaccine development
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21645515.2025.2528368
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