A gp41-based heteroduplex mobility assay provides rapid and accurate assessment of intrasubtype epidemiological linkage in HIV type 1 heterosexual transmission Pairs.

ABSTRACT: A critical step in HIV-1 transmission studies is the rapid and accurate identification of epidemiologically linked transmission pairs. To date, this has been accomplished by comparison of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified nucleotide sequences from potential transmission pairs, which can be cost-prohibitive for use in resource-limited settings. Here we describe a rapid, cost-effective approach to determine transmission linkage based on the heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA), and validate this approach by comparison to nucleotide sequencing. A total of 102 HIV-1-infected Zambian and Rwandan couples, with known linkage, were analyzed by gp41-HMA. A 400-base pair fragment within the envelope gp41 region of the HIV proviral genome was PCR amplified and HMA was applied to both partners' a

SUBMITTER: Manigart O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3505061 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature