title: Detection of distinct patterns of anti-tat antibodies in HIV-infected individuals with or without Kaposi's sarcoma.
abstract: Patterns of antibody response to recombinant transactivator protein (HIV-1 tat) in serum samples from HIV-1-negative persons (n = 60), HIV-1-infected asymptomatic persons (n = 20), HIV-1-infected people with Kaposi's sarcoma (n = 25) and of people with Kaposi's sarcoma without HIV-1 infection have been analyzed. None of the healthy people had anti-tat IgG in their serum. All asymptomatic patients with HIV-1 infection were anti-tat IgG-positive. Epitope mapping revealed that these sera have anti-tat IgG to all the functional domains of tat protein. Four of the 25 HIV-1-infected patients with Kaposi's sarcoma were anti-tat IgG-positive; however, epitope analysis revealed that IgG to functional domains of tat protein, in particular to TAR-binding site, were absent. All patients with Kaposi's sarcoma without HIV-1 infection were anti-tat IgG-negative. Presence or absence of anti-tat IgG, and prevalence of different antibody profiles in different groups of patients suggest the pathophysiologic role of tat protein. Thus, a passive immunization with anti-tat IgG could be a useful strategy to influence the pathophysiologic state of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Gustav-Embden Center of Biological Chemistry, Frankfurt University Medical School, Germany.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Demirhan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chandra
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hasselmayer
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Biberfeld
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chandra
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D015696:Gene Products, tat / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D054322:tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
chemical_list: D015696:Gene Products, tat; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D054322:tat Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus