Alireza Milani, Fatemeh Rouhollah, Maryam Naseroleslami, Azam Bolhassani: Evaluation of anti-heat shock protein antibody in HIV-infected patients. The 16th National Congress of Biochemistry and 7th International Congress of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tehran-Iran; 11/2020. (Poster)
Abstract
Background The diagnosis of HIV infection is usually performed by serologic detection of antibodies against HIV proteins. Moreover, HIV infection may facilitate the presence of human complement, so different types of specific antibodies can be detected. Some studies found differences in the detection of IgG antibodies to heat shock proteins (Hsps) between HIV-infected patients and healthy individuals. In this study, we generated the recombinant small Hsps in E.coli to determine whether small Hsps might be used as potential markers in HIV-infected patients. Methods At first, the recombinant small Hsps 20 and 27 proteins were expressed in E.coli expression system and purified by affinity chromatography using nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) agarose column under native conditions. Then, serum samples were prepared from HIV-infected patients and healthy individuals. Finally, detection of antibody responses was performed against the recombinant Hsp20 and Hsp27 proteins as potential markers using indirect ELISA. Results Our data showed that both recombinant proteins could be successfully purified under native conditions. Furthermore, circulating levels of anti-Hsp27 antibodies were significantly elevated in HIV-infected patients as compared to those in HIV-negative individuals/ healthy individuals. In contrast, no significant differences were observed in the levels of anti-Hsp20 antibodies between these groups. Conclusion Generally, Hsp27 may have potential value as a diagnostic marker for HIV-1 infections along with p24 antigen as a common method.
Keywords HIV, Heat shock proteins, Diagnosis, Seroreactivity
