Constant and variable antigenic regions of the HIV. NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1992. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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Constant and variable antigenic regions of the HIV.

Transfus Med Rev. 1989 Jan;3(1 Suppl 1):17-22. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/92223667
Pottathil R; Roche Diagnostic Systems, Nutley, NJ.

Abstract: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the etiological agent in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The presence of antibodies against HIV is indicative of prior exposure to HIV. Currently available antibody screening tests use HIV-infected cells as a source of viral antigens. This approach has resulted in inherent flaws, including a high rate of false-positive results. In order to develop a highly specific and sensitive test, various proteins of HIV [envelope (env), gag, pol] were cloned and expressed. In addition, we synthesized peptides corresponding to various regions of envelope (gp120, gp41), tat, art, and the protease gene products were synthesized. Using these synthetic peptides and cloned proteins, several conserved and highly antigenic epitopes in viral envelope were identified. Fusion proteins were made from the highly conserved and antigenic epitopes of env and gag. One of these fusion proteins, env-gag, was used to develop an enzyme immunoassay that would detect the antibodies against both env and gag epitopes. A clinical study of 13,781 samples demonstrated the very high specificity (99.9%) and sensitivity (100%) of this assay.
Keywords: Antigenic Variation/*IMMUNOLOGY Clinical Trials Human HIV Antigens/*ANALYSIS Immunoenzyme Techniques Predictive Value of Tests JOURNAL ARTICLEKWDantigenicvariation/KWDimmunologyclinicaltrialshumanhivantigens/KWDanalysisimmunoenzymetechniquespredictivevalueoftestsjournalarticle
920730
M9271092

Copyright © 1992 - National Library of Medicine. Reproduced under license with the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.

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