SBIR-STTR Award

Human T-cell leukemia virus type II (HTLV-II) is considered to be an etiologic agent of hairy cell leukemia, and its prevelence is increasing in the blood supply. The long-term objective of this project is to produce an immunological assay to study its prevelence in the blood supply. This Phase I research specifically aims to develop a recombinant DNA system to produce a portion of the envelope protein that is immunogenic. The approach to be used will involve the assembly of a synthetic gene coding for that portion of the envelope protein. The gene will be cloned and expressed in E. coli. High-level expression of the desired product will enable Phase II research to focus on the E. coli fermentation scale-up and purification.Awardee's statement of the potential commercial applications of the research:Immunogenic HTLV-II envelope protein produced from this research will be available in large quantities to allow for detection of the prevalence of HTLV-II infection in the blood supplyNational Cancer Institute (NCI)