Localization of immunogenic domains in the human immunodeficiency virus type 2 envelope
Huang, M.L.; Essex, M.; Lee, T.H.
Journal of Virology 65(9): 5073-5079
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-538X PMID: 1714524 Document Number: 316586
Researchers from Harvard University's School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts aimed to define highly immunogenic domains in the extracellular protein of the HIV-2 envelope. They used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method to amplify 6 contiguous segments of the entire glycoprotein envelope of the ST strain of HIV-2 (minimal cytopathicity compared with other HIV strains). Once amplified, the researcher cloned the 6 segments into the bacterial expression vector p806. They used the Western blot analysis on a panel of 48 HIV-2 positive and 22 HIV-2 negative serum samples (1:1000 dilution) from Senegal to localize the relative immunogenic reactivity of different regions of the envelope recombinant proteins. The results revealed that ST11-12 and ST15-16 were reactive with 95.8% and 97.9% of the HIV-2 positive samples respectively. They found similar results with serum from other West African countries. Therefore this research showed that ST11-12 and ST15-16 are highly immunogenic domains in the HIV-2 ST envelope. (The recombinant protein ST15-16 is located at the amino end of the transmembrane glycoprotein gp36 and ST11-12 is in the middle of the extracellular glycoprotein gp36 and ST11-12 is in the middle of the extracellular glycoprotein gp120.) In addition, the researchers used the Western blot analysis to screen a panel of HIV-1 positive sera. They learned that none of the HIV-1 positive serum samples cross reacted with ST 11-12. In conclusion, ST11-12 can be used as an additional type-specific serologic marker for HIV-2 infection.