Strongly enhanced sensitivity of a direct anti-HIV-1/-2 assay in seroconversion by incorporation of HIV p24 ag detection: a new generation vironostika HIV Uni-Form II.

The clinical sensitivity of the current anti-HIV assays is based for an important part on their reactivity with seroconversion panels. The most sensitive assay closes the seroconversion window as much as possible, thereby reducing the risk of transmitting false negative donations obtained from individuals infected recently. Because of the absence of anti-HIV antibodies during the early phase of infection, the seroconversion window can be narrowed partially by detection of HIV p24 Ag.

Reactivity of a new HIV-1 group O third generation A-HIV-1/-2 assay with an unusual HIV-1 seroconversion panel and HIV-1 group O/group M subtyped samples.

It was shown previously that about 97% of the anti-HIV-1 group O strain-positive samples were detected by crossreaction with native HIV-1 gp160 (Van Binsbergen et al., Evaluation of a new third generation anti-HIV-1/anti-HIV-2 assay with increased sensitivity for HIV-1 group O, J. Virol.

Evaluation of a new third generation anti-HIV-1/anti-HIV-2 assay with increased sensitivity for HIV-1 group O.

Although the HIV-1 group O virus found in two persons of Cameroonian origin has been described in 1990 (De Leys et al., 1990), sera from group O infected individuals became available only recently. Several studies showed that some of the anti-HIV-1/HIV-2 screening tests failed to detect all of these samples (Loussert-Ajaka et al.

Helper effector function of human T cells stimulated by anti-CD3 mAb can be enhanced by co-stimulatory signals and is partially dependent on CD40-CD40 ligand interaction.

In this study we have investigated whether anti-CD3-induced human T cell help for immunoglobulin production could be enhanced by co-stimulation of the T cells via other T cell surface molecules, and the contribution of CD40-CD40 ligand interaction to the execution of T helper effector function induced by these different stimulatory signals. In a system in which irradiated tonsillar T cells were stimulated with immobilized anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (mAb), it was found that ligation of CD2 with a mitogenic pair of mAb considerably enhanced anti-CD3-induced T cell help for immunoglobulin production. Likewise, ligation of CD28 with mAb enhanced T helper activity, although to a lesser extent.

The integrin alpha 6 beta 4 on TA3/Ha mammary carcinoma cells is involved in adhesion to hepatocytes.

TA3/Ha mammary carcinoma cells form liver metastases upon intraportal injection. We have studied the interaction between these cells and hepatocytes that is likely to be important for liver metastasis formation. We show that the integrin alpha 6 beta 4, which is highly expressed on TA3 cells, is involved in this interaction.