To clarify the genetic risk for ATL, we characterized HLA class I alleles of ATL patients and analyzed the anchor motifs of HTLV-1 peptides binding to HLA class I molecules, using 291 lines of anti-HTLV-1 CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) generated in vitro with a total of 165 synthetic peptides for HTLV-1 Tax and Env proteins.
Comparison of the complete nucleotide sequence of the env gene of different HTLV-1 strains and the baboon T-cell leukemia virus (designated BTLV) indicated similarities ranging from 92.5 to 97.4%.
We did not find changes in the env gene that correlated with HTLV-I-associated neurological disease vs adult T cell leukemia or with the nervous system vs peripheral blood and lymphoid organs.
Fresh and cultured leukemia cells from an adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) patient which possessed gag and env gene defective human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I) provirus genome were molecularly analyzed.