[Cloning and gene expression of the surface protein gene of the HTLV-III virus in E. coli]

A system has been developed for expression of surface protein (SP) of the virus of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in E. coli. For this purpose, cloning and substitution of a fragment of SP gene of HTLV-III virus under control of PL-promoter of phage lambda was carried out using pre-modified plasmid vector pPL-lambda. In the constructed plasmid pL2 1950 paranucleotides, the PvuII fragment of HTLV-III virus DNA is built-in in such a way that the frames of transcription of phage lambda protein N and SP of HTLV-III virus correspond to each other. As a result, plasmid pL2 codes for synthesis of a hybrid polypeptide consisting of phage lambda protein N (59 aminoacid residues--a. r.) and SP of HTLV-III (569 a. r.). The presence of the hybrid polypeptide in lysates of E. coli strains (K-12 delta H1 delta trp/pL2, M 5219/pL2, N 4830/pL2) was determined by solid-phase enzyme-immunoassay.