A NOVEL, SENSITIVE RADIOIMMUNOPRECIPITATION ASSAY FOR THE DETECTION OF ANTIBODIES TO HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS-TYPE-2

A radioimmunoprecipitation assay that provides an alternative to the W estern blot assay was developed for characterizing antibodies against human immunodeficiency virus type-2 (HIV-2). The assay is based on rad ioiodination of antigen using Bolton-Hunter reagent. The antigen consi sts of a soluble preparation of the NIH-Z (HIV-2) strain of 1000X puri fied virus spiked with purified recombinant HIV-2 gp105. Radiolabeled proteins were immunoprecipitated by immune human sera, even at the ear ly stages of seroconversion. This new assay provides a simple method f or characterizing and titrating antibodies against HIV-2. The method i s more sensitive, and is more efficient than Western blotting. The lab eled viral proteins are well suited for biochemical studies.