Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The envelope proteins of HTLV-1: analysis of variability and function (Meeting abstract).
Br J Cancer; 65(Suppl 16):2 1992. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE ICDB/93689951 Schulz TF; Carrington CV; Clapham P; Weiss RA; Chester Beatty Laboratories, Inst. of Cancer Res., London, UK
Abstract:
HTLV-I, the causative agent of adult T-cell leukemia and tropical spastic paraparesis, is a highly conserved human retrovirus endemic to southern Japan, the Caribbean, Africa and South America. In vivo the virus is mainly found in CD4+ T cells, and its envelope protein is thought to induce T-cell proliferation. We have analyzed the variability of its env gene in isolates from Brazil, the Caribbean and Romania and found that (in spite of a high degree of conservation), there is some clustering of isolates from different geographic regions. We observed some variability in an antigenic region which has been used for serodiagnostic purposes and have shown that this affects recognition of this site by antibodies. This epitope, which is close to a proposed neutralization site, seems to be partially hidden in the native envelope. Knowledge of the naturally occurring variability allows the interpretation of changes that we found in defective envelope genes with respect to their functional significance. We have also modelled the regions involved in the contact between the two envelope proteins (SU, TM). This model suggests that, in spite of differences in primary sequence, the mode of interaction of TM and SU proteins is largely conserved in different retroviruses. We have produced recombinant envelope proteins in insect cells and E coli to raise monoclonal antibodies and to map antibody epitopes. Absorption experiments with recombinant proteins indicate that neutralizing antibodies in human sera may be directed against conformational or composite epitopes. These reagents are also being used for the identification of the cellular receptor for HTLV-I, whose gene has previously been mapped to chromosome 17.
Keywords: Epitopes Gene Products, env/ANALYSIS Human *HTLV-I/GENETICS/IMMUNOLOGY HTLV-I Antibodies/ANALYSIS HTLV-I Antigens/ANALYSIS Neutralization Tests Viral Envelope Proteins/*ANALYSIS ABSTRACT 930530
M9350986
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Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
