Comparing the Survival Rate of Mangrove Clam, Polymesoda (Geloina) spp. (Solander 1876) Through Field Experiments in Mangrove Forests of Iriomote Island.

Polymesoda spp., which represent bivalves in the mangrove ecosystem, inhabit the mangrove forests of the Indo-Pacific region. They tend not to be broadly distributed across zones within the mangrove forest, but are instead typically encountered in the mesozone.

Enzyme immunoassay with synthetic peptides to detect anti-HTLV-I antibodies.

We developed an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) system to detect antibodies to human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I). This system uses chemically synthesized oligopeptides to capture anti-HTLV-I antibodies in serum. The two epitopes of HTLV-I proteins exhibiting the most specific antigen-antibody reaction reside within amino acids 100-130 of p19, a core protein encoded by gag, and amino acids 175-199 of gp46, an envelope glycoprotein encoded by env.

Linear antigenic regions of the structural proteins of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using synthetic peptides as antigens.

We synthesized 46 sequential peptides 21 to 39 amino acids long over the structural protein of human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I; the p19 and p24 gag protein and the gp46 and p20E env proteins) and tested their reactivities against antibodies in sera from HTLV-I healthy carriers and patients diagnosed as having human T-cell leukemia-lymphoma (ATLL) and myelopathy (HAM) by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Of the 46 synthetic peptides, 18 peptides (2 corresponding to the p19 gag protein, 2 corresponding to the p24 gag protein, 8 corresponding to the gp46 env protein, and 6 corresponding to the p20E env protein) reacted with antibodies in the sera from HTLV-I healthy carriers. In particular, the peptides comprising amino acids 100 to 119 and 119 to 130 of the gag and 175 to 199, 213 to 236, 253 to 282, and 288 to 317 of the env proteins reacted with antibodies in sera from more than 30% of HTLV-I healthy carriers.

Elevated antibodies to synthetic peptides of HTLV-1 envelope transmembrane glycoproteins in patients with HAM/TSP.

We studied the antibody response to various kinds of well-characterized synthetic peptides of human T lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) envelope glycoproteins in patients with HTLV-1 associated myelopathy (HAM)/tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP) and non-HAM/TSP HTLV-1 carriers. The serum antibody titers to most of the synthetic peptides were significantly higher in patients with HAM/TSP than those in non-HAM/TSP HTLV-1 carriers. However, the degree of the increase of antibody titers to the synthetic peptides corresponding to the transmembrane portions of HTLV-1 envelope glycoproteins (env-p20E), such as p20E 332-352, 374-392, 426-448 and 458-488, was greater than those to synthetic peptides of exterior portions of HTLV-1 envelope glycoproteins (env-gp46) in sera from patients with HAM/TSP.

Serological discrimination between HTLV-I and HTLV-II antibodies by ELISA using synthetic peptides as antigens.

Using the peptides from amino acids 100-130 of the HTLV-I gag protein, 175-199 of the HTLV-I env protein and the corresponding peptides of HTLV-II (amino acids 106 to 135 of the gag protein and 171 to 196 of the env protein), we tested for reactivity against antibodies by enzyme immunoassay in sera from HTLV-I and HTLV-II carriers. The peptides derived from the env proteins have high specificity for antibody binding. The peptide based on amino acids 175-199 of HTLV-I reacted with antibodies in sera from all HTLV-I carriers, and the peptide composed of amino acids 171-196 of HTLV-II reacted with antibodies in sera from all HTLV-II carriers.