Sequence analysis of an immunogenic and neutralizing domain of the human T-cell lymphoma/leukemia virus type I gp46 surface membrane protein among various primate T-cell lymphoma/leukemia virus isolates including those from a patient with both HTLV-I-associated myelopathy and adult T-cell leukemia.
We synthesized 46 sequential peptides 21 to 39 amino acids long over the structural protein of human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I; the p19 and p24 gag protein and the gp46 and p20E env proteins) and tested their reactivities against antibodies in sera from HTLV-I healthy carriers and patients diagnosed as having human T-cell leukemia-lymphoma (ATLL) and myelopathy (HAM) by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Similarly, comparisons of DNA amplified from HTLV-1 DNA in cases of ATL, HAM, and TSP did not establish a correlation between the mutation in gp46 and neurological disease.