DETECTION OF AIDS VIRUS (HTLV-III) BY MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO USE MOUSE MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES TO HTLV-III TO EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF DETECTING HTLV ANTIGEN EXPRESSION ON T LYMPHOCYTES IN CLINICAL SPECIMENS FROM PATIENTS WITH LYPHADENOPATHY SYNDROME AND OVERT AIDS, AND IN INDIVIDUALS IN HIGH RISK GROUPS. THIS WILL BE DONE BY: (1) PRODUCING AN ARRAY OF MOUSE MONOCLONALS TO HTLV-III ANTIGENS BY IMMUNIZING WITH SELECTED ANTIGENS TO EXTENSIVE IMMUNIZATION PROTOCOLS; (2) SELECTING HYBRID CULTURES REACTIVE TO HTLV-III BY ELISA SCREENING AND WESTERN BLOTTING AND TO CLONE AND CHARACTERIZEHYBRIDS WHICH EXPRESS SELECTIVE REACTIVITY PATTERNS TO HTLV-III; (3) TO EVALUATE SELECTED MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES FOR USE IN DETECTING HTLV-III ANTIGEN EXPRESSION ON HUMAN T LYMPHO- CYTES BY FLOW CYTOMETRY; AND (4) TO USE SELECTED MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES IN A RETROSPECTIVE TRIAL TO COMPARE (A) ELISA REACTIVITY, (B) WESTERN BLOTTING, (C) T LYMPHOCYTE H/S RATIO, AND D HTLV ANTIGEN EXPRESSION BY FLOW CYTOMETRY ON A BANK OF SELECTED SAMPLES.