PRODUCTION OF HUMAN T-CELL LEUKEMIA (LYMPHOTROPIC) RETROVIRUS (HTLV-I) ENVELOPE PROTEIN FRAGMENTS IN BACTERIA AND USE IN SEROEPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEY OF HUMAN LYMPHOID MALIGNANCIES

摘要

Two regions of the gene for the HTLV-I envelopewere expressed in Escherichia coli by use of the vectorpJLAl6. One corresonds to the carboxy-terminal region ofthe major envelope protein p46 and the other correspondsto the transmembrane protein p2lE. Reactivity of theexpressed protein with human sera was tested by Westernblot procedure. Each of the sera tested that had beenshown to contain anti-HTLV-I or anti-HTLV-II antibodiesby ELISA assay recognized the bacterially synthesizedenvelope proteins. There was no reaction detected whencontrol sera. were tested. This system is useful forlarge scale seroepidemiological surveys for this andrelated human retroviruses.