A serological screening assay of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 antibodies based on recombinant protein p24-gp41 as a fusion protein expressed in Escherichia coli

J Biotechnol. 2006 Sep 1;125(2):295-303. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2006.03.021. Epub 2006 May 2.

Abstract

The objective of this study was expression of a recombinant fusion protein p24-gp41 to gain a proper folding pattern of the proteins which could be recognized by specific antibodies against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) for development of a reliable serodiagnostic kit. Serodiagnostic method using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with the expressed recombinant fusion protein p24-gp41 was carried out to test the sensitivity and specificity of the protein using human sera and various reference panels from Boston Biomedica Inc. (BBI). The level of the expression was determined to be 30% and the final recovery from fermentation and purification process was calculated as 80 mg/L with more than 98% purity. The developed ELISA assay was demonstrated to have 100 and 99.5% sensitivity and specificity, respectively, detecting anti-HIV-1 antibody using 900 positive and 10,000 negative human sera. The developed assay showed reliable results in comparison with other reference HIV ELISA kits using various BBI panels as well. In conclusion, the recombinant fusion protein p24-gp41 was expressed and used to develop a serodiagnostic kit for screening of the HIV-1 with high sensitivity (100%) and specificity (99.5%) which could be useful for screening large groups of blood donors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / methods
  • Escherichia coli / genetics
  • Escherichia coli / metabolism
  • HIV Antibodies / analysis*
  • HIV Antibodies / blood
  • HIV Core Protein p24 / genetics
  • HIV Core Protein p24 / immunology*
  • HIV Envelope Protein gp41 / genetics
  • HIV Envelope Protein gp41 / immunology*
  • HIV Seropositivity / blood
  • HIV Seropositivity / diagnosis
  • HIV-1 / immunology*
  • Humans
  • Mass Screening / methods
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / immunology
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / metabolism
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Serologic Tests / methods

Substances

  • HIV Antibodies
  • HIV Core Protein p24
  • HIV Envelope Protein gp41
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins