Res Virol. 1993 May-Jun;144(3):209-18. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is a lentivirus which infects
domestic cats, causing an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome AIDS). The
aim of the present work was the development of an immunoassay for the
diagnosis of FIV infection, using synthetic peptides from FIV envelope
(Env) glycoproteins. Four peptides (8 to 11 amino acids long)
corresponding to group-specific epitopes of FIV Env extracellular (SU)
or transmembrane (TM) glycoproteins were synthesized. They were
evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for
immunoreactivity with sera from naturally or experimentally FIV-infected
cats. One of these, P237, corresponds to a conserved nonapeptide of FIV
TM, folded as a loop between two cysteines. ELISA performed with P237 on
171 sera from FIV-infected cats and 46 sera from specific-pathogen-free
cats showed no false positive cases and 100% detection of infected cat
sera. Moreover, 47 pet cat sera which were negative with a whole
virus-based-ELISA were tested with the P237 ELISA: 2 out of 47 showed
reactivity. FIV infection of these two cats was confirmed by
radio-immunoprecipitation assay. Temporal studies performed on serial
serum samples from experimentally infected cats detected antibodies to
P237 three to five weeks after inoculation of virus. Thus, the P237
ELISA is a sensitive and specific immunoassay for early detection of
antibodies to FIV. In addition, this synthetic nonapeptide is easier to
produce and purify than virus preparations or recombinant proteins.
*Feline Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/DIAGNOSIS *Immunodeficiency
Virus, Feline/IMMUNOLOGY *Retroviridae Proteins, Oncogenic/IMMUNOLOGY
*Viral Envelope Proteins/IMMUNOLOGY