Antigenic determinants synthesized in a library of randomly cloned fragments of the HIV-1 genome.

A DNA expression library of randomly selected fragments of the HIV-1 genome was constructed and used to search for antigenic determinants. A large segment of the HIV-1 provirus was sonicated, and 150-250 bp DNA fragments were cloned in a system of expression vectors developed to obtain high yields of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli. The expressed library was immunoscreened with sera of AIDS patients. Eleven identified immunoreactive clones were found to correspond to already known and new antigenic regions of HIV-1 proteins gp41, p24, and reverse transcriptase.