Methodologies for the detection of human immunodeficiency virus nucleic acids employing oligonucleotide primer derived from the HIV-1 MVP5180/91 genome

US6335158B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Dade Behring Marburg GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Stefan Brust · Marburg, DE
• Stefan Knapp · Marburg, DE
• Manfred Gerken · Marburg, DE
• Lutz G. Guertler · Munich, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 10, 1998
• Grant date: Jan 1, 2002
• Expiry date: Aug 10, 2018

Classification

• Technology area (CPC C): Chemistry; Metallurgy
• CPC primary: C12N2740/16134
• WIPO field: Pharmaceuticals
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

The present invention is directed toward nucleic-acid based methodologies for the detection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) nucleic acids in a sample. A novel HIV-1 isolate, designated MVP5180/91, was isolated from a West African Cameroonian patient with immunodeficiency. Nucleic acid and amino acid sequence comparisons of this isolate, with other HIV-1 strains of subtypes A-E and HIV-2 isolates, demonstrated that this virus shares only limited homology with other known HIV-1 and -2 isolates. However, this virus does display some genetic relatedness to another Cameroonian isolate designated ANT-70. These viruses form the basis for a new HIV-1 group which has been designated subtype O. An immunologically important epitope, corresponding to amino acids 601-623 of the MVP5180/91 transmembrane envelope glycoprotein, was identified. Labeled nucleic acids can be prepared from the nucleotide sequence encoding this region and employed in standard hybridization assays to detect HIV-1 nucleic acids. Alternatively, oligonucleotide primers can also be prepared from this region and employed in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays to detect viral-specific nucleic acids.