Determination of a unique and immunodominant epitope of human T cell lymphotropic virus type I.
The identification and isolation of unique and immunogenic recombinant epitopes for human T cell lymphotrophic virus (HTLV) type I might allow the development of an antibody-based assay to differentiate between HTLV-I and HTLV-II infections. To test the feasibility of this approach, an HTLV-I envelope epitope was isolated by immunoscreening of a lambda gt11 recombinant HTLV-I DNA library with a human monoclonal antibody to HTLV-I. This recombinant epitope. MTA-4, when tested with sera from HTLV-I- or HTLV-II-infected individuals, was reactive with all HTLV-I and nonreactive with all HTLV-II antisera. These results indicate that MTA-4 is a unique and immunodominant epitope on HTLV-I and confirm the usefulness of human-derived monoclonal antibodies in an experimental approach to dissect the human humoral response to a viral pathogen.
Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, California.
J J
JJ
Lipka
K
K
Bui
G R
GR
Reyes
R
R
Moeckli
S Z
SZ
Wiktor
W A
WA
Blattner
E L
EL
Murphy
G M
GM
Shaw
C V
CV
Hanson
J J
JJ
Sninsky
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D015153:Blotting, Western; D000939:Epitopes / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015723:Gene Library; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies / Q000276:immunology; D015486:HTLV-I Antigens / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000032:analysis
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000939:Epitopes; D015481:HTLV-I Antibodies; D015486:HTLV-I Antigens; D011994:Recombinant Proteins