MODIFIED WESTERN-BLOT ASSAY FOR CONFIRMATION AND DIFFERENTIATION OF HUMAN T-CELL LYMPHOTROPIC VIRUS TYPE-I AND TYPE-II JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES LIPKA, J. J., Santiago, P., Chan, L., Reyes, G. R., Samuel, K. P., Blattner, W. A., Shaw, G. M., Hanson, C. V., Sninsky, J. J., Foung, S. K. 1991; 164 (2): 400-403

Abstract

Disease association studies of human T cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) types I and II are hindered by the need for multiple assays to confirm and differentiate between the viruses. A modified Western blot assay has been developed using HTLV-I viral lysate and unique (MTA-4) and shared (p21E) HTLV recombinant proteins. By defining confirmation of infection as the presence of antibodies to p24 gag protein and to p21E, all 56 HTLV-I and 49 HTLV-II antisera were confirmed by this modified Western blot alone. Differentiation was determined by reactivity to MTA-4. All HTLV-I antisera reacted with MTA-4 and all HTLV-II antisera did not react with MTA-4. These findings indicate the utility of selected HTLV-I recombinant proteins in a single assay format to confirm and differentiate infections with HTLV-I and HTLV-II.

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