PRODUCTION OF RECOMBINANT HTLV-II ENVELOPE PROTEIN IN E. COLI

HUMAN T-CELL LEUKEMIA VIRUS TYPE II (HTLV-II) IS CONSIDERED TO BE AN ETIOLOGIC AGENT OF HAIRY CELL LEUKEMIA, AND ITS PREVALENCE IS INCREASING IN THE BLOOD SUPPLY. THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PRODUCE AN IMMUNOLOGICAL ASSAY TO STUDY ITS PREVALENCE IN THE BLOOD SUPPLY. THIS PHASE I RESEARCH SPECIFICALLY AIMS TO DEVELOP A RECOMBINANT DNA SYSTEM TO PRODUCE A PORTION OF THE ENVELOPE PROTEIN THAT IS IMMUNOGENIC. THE APPROACH TO BE USED WILL INVOLVE THE ASSEMBLY OF A SYNTHETIC GENE CODING FOR THAT PORTION OF THE ENVELOPE PROTEIN. THE GENE WILL BE CLONED AND EXPRESSED IN E. COLI. HIGH-LEVEL EXPRESSION OF THE DESIRED PRODUCT WILL ENABLE PHASE II RESEARCH TO FOCUS ON THE E. COLI FERMENTATION SCALE-UP AND PURIFICATION.