Patent ID: 6544752
Filing Date: 2003-04-08
Classification: A61K,C07K,C12N,C12Q,G01N

Abstract:
A method of determining the presence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) retroviral antigens in a sample, comprising the steps of:(a) immunizing a host with an immunogenic composition capable of eliciting an HIV retroviral specific immune response in a host to produce HIV retroviral antigen-specific antibodies, wherein said immunogenic composition comprises a non-infectious, non-replicating, immunogenic HIV-like particle in which said particle contains a heterologous antigenic marker and comprises an assembly of: (i) an env gene product, (ii) a pol gene product, (iii) a gag gene product, and (iv) at least one non-retroviral, non-mammalian heterologous antigenic marker, wherein said marker, when presented in the context of the HIV-like particle, is capable of generating an immune response to said antigenic marker when the particle is administered to a host, said particle being encoded by a modified HIV retroviral genome deficient in long terminal repeats (LTRs) and containing gag, pol and env in their natural genomic arrangement and a heterologous nucleic acid insert encoding said at least one antigenic marker: (b) recovering said HIV retroviral antigen-specific antibodies prepared in step (a); (c) obtaining and preparing a sample suspected of containing HIV retroviral antigens; (d) contacting the sample prepared in step (c) with the HIV retroviral antigen-specific antibodies recovered in step (b) as antibody under conditions which permit binding of antibody to antigen and the formation of an antigen-antibody immune complex; and (e) detecting said immune complex formation.