DETECTION OF IMMUNOREACTIVE EPITOPES IN P ROTEINS EN CODED BY GAG, ENV, AND POL GENES IN HUMAN T-LYMPHOTROPIC VIRUS TYPE-I USING SYNTHETIC PEPTIDES

Reactivity of 26 synthetic peptides that comprise 12 to 26 amino acid residues corresponding to segments of the gag p19, env gp46, and pol p roteins of human T-lymphotropic virus type I toward 31 positive sera w as studied using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Specific reactivit y with high titers of antibodies (presented in reciprocal dilution val ues) was detected for the synthetic peptides corresponding to fragment s 110 - 130 and 100 - 130 (titers up to 4050) of p19, 174 - 197 (up to 800), 186 - 201 (up to 4050), 191 - 215 (up to 1350), 242 - 257 (up t o 800), and 272 - 292 (up to 450) of gp46. Immunoreactivity of seven p eptides, fragments of pol-proteins, was weak. New linear epitopes in t he regions 145 - 158, 272 - 277, and 292 - 300 of gp46 were detected. In addition, location of the known linear epitopes in p19 and gp46 was refined on the basis of comparative study of overlapping peptides fro m these proteins.