CHIMAERIC HIV-1 SUBTYPE C GAG-VIRUS-LIKE PARTICLES

摘要

A method of producing immunogenic chimaeric proteins which self-assemble into virus-like particles is described. A first DNA sequence encoding a HIV-1 subtype C protein or portion thereof of greater than 200 amino acids is fused to a second DNA sequence encoding at least p17 and p24 of a Gag protein by a direct in-frame C-terminal fusion. A host cell is infected with a vector containing the fused sequence, and the chimaeric protein encoded by the fused sequence is expressed. The second DNA sequence may alternatively be a full-length gag sequence or a truncated gag sequence. Examples of the first DNA sequence are provided for tat, nef and reverse transcriptase, and combinations thereof.