title: Fine specificity of the humoral immune response to HIV-1 GP160 in HIV-1 infected individuals from Tanzania.
abstract: A total of 160 sera from HIV-1 infected individuals from Tanzania were examined for their fine specificity characteristics relative to 9 synthetic peptides that define HIV-1 gp160 epitopes. Immunorecessive and immunodominant epitopes were identified in both gp120 and gp41 based on serologic reactivity of these HIV-1 infected sera. A significant difference in fine specificity among HIV-1 infected individuals from Tanzania and the United States was observed for an immunodominant gp41 epitope. No significant differences in reactivity among asymptomatic vs. symptomatic HIV-1 infected individuals were detected for the selected HIV-1 gp160 epitopes defined by these peptides. The majority of sera from HIV-1 infected Tanzanians contained antibodies that recognized a peptide corresponding to the V3 region of gp120 from the HIV-1 MN isolate. These data suggest that regional isolates of HIV-1 may exist in Tanzania that differ from HIV-1 isolated in the United States. However, based on serology, HIV-1 isolates exhibiting sequences with HIV-1 MN V3 similarity may also be prevalent in Tanzania. The results of this study may be useful for the design of more effective AIDS diagnostic and therapeutic products for use worldwide.
authors.affiliation: Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Moshi, Tanzania.
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Nkya
authors.forename: R Q
authors.initials: RQ
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Hendrix
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tesha
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Redfield
authors.forename: G P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Melcher
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Kennedy
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000276:immunology*; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D015488:HIV Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D019302:HIV Envelope Protein gp160; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000276:immunology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013636:Tanzania; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D015686:Gene Products, env; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D015488:HIV Antigens; D019302:HIV Envelope Protein gp160; D011498:Protein Precursors