Antigenicity of chimeric synthetic peptides based on HTLV-1 antigens and the impact of epitope orientation.
The present study evaluated four chimeric synthetic peptides incorporating immunodominant sequences from HTLV-1 virus. Monomeric peptides M1, M2, and M3 represent sequences from core (p19) and envelope (gp46) of the virus. The peptide M1 is a p19 (105-124) sequence, the peptide M2 is a gp46 (190-207) sequence, and the peptide M3 is a gp 46 sequence with substitution of proline at position 192 by serine. Those peptides were arranged in such a way that permits one to obtain different combinations of chimeric peptides (M1-M2, M2-M1, M1-M3, and M3-M1). Two glycine residues were used as arm spacers for separating the two sequences. The antigenicity of these peptides was evaluated in an ultramicroenzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (UMELISA) using sera of human T cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I)-infected individuals (n = 24), while specificity was evaluated with anti-HTLV-II-positive samples (n = 11) and healthy blood donors (n = 25). The results were compared to plates coated with monomeric peptides M1, M2, and M3. The chimeric peptide orientation (M1-M2) and the proline at position 192 of the gp46 peptide showed higher sensitivity.
Hernández
M
M
Department of Peptide Synthesis, Immunoassay Center, Havana, Cuba.
Selles
M E
ME
Pozo Peña
L
L
Gómez
I
I
Melchor
A
A
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D015686:Gene Products, env / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D015683:Gene Products, gag / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D015486:HTLV-I Antigens / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D015487:HTLV-II Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D015368:Human T-lymphotropic virus 1 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D015367:Human T-lymphotropic virus 2 / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology*; D015682:Retroviridae Proteins, Oncogenic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus
D015686:Gene Products, env; D015683:Gene Products, gag; D015486:HTLV-I Antigens; D015487:HTLV-II Antigens; D007106:Immune Sera; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes; D010455:Peptides; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D015682:Retroviridae Proteins, Oncogenic; D054301:gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus; C055266:gp46 protein, Human T-cell leukemia virus type I; C060955:p19 protein, Human T-lymphotropic virus 1