Assay for detecting infection by human T-cell lymphotropic virus-III

Abstract

A first glycoprotein having a molecular weight of approximately 120,000 daltons in the H9/HTLV-III cell line, of which approximately 90,000 daltons is the unglycosylated moiety, is obtained from cells infected with human T-cell leukemia virus, type III. A second glycoprotein having a molecular weight of aproximately 160,000 daltons is also obtained from such cells, of which approximately 90,000 daltons is the unglycosylated moiety and is substantially identical to the unglycosylated moiety of the first glycoprotein. The presence, in a biological specimen, of either of these glycoproteins or of the unglycosylated moiety is indicative of the presence of cells infected by human T-cell leukemia virus. An assay for the glycoprotein or its unglycosylated moiety is a useful diagnostic procedure for determining such infection in biological specimens.

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