Characterization of monoclonal antibodies identifying type and strain-specific epitopes of human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

Several hybridoma cell lines were raised against the highly cytopathic Zaïrian isolate of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), HIV1-NDK. The specificity of the secreted monoclonal antibodies (mAb) was demonstrated by immunoblotting, radioimmunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence. Two hybridoma cell lines secreted mAb reacting with independent epitopes of the NDK p17 capsid protein and its precursors. One, RL16.24.5, is specific for the NDK isolate whereas the other, RL16.45.1, along with anti-p25 RL16.30.1 mAb, bind all HIV1 isolates but not HIV2. Together with the previously described mAb RL4.72.1 those reagents define lentivirus subfamily (HIV1, HIV2, SIV) type/subtype (HIV1) and strain (HIV1-NDK) specific epitopes expressed on HIV1-NDK core proteins. The last mAb RL16.76.1 binds the env gene products gp160 and gp120.