An Ultrasensitive p24 Assay to Measure HIV-1 in Diverse Biological Matrixes

Assays to study HIV persistence are crucial to evaluate therapeutic strategies aimed toward an HIV cure. Several assays have been developed to date that rely on the measurement of nucleic acids. In recent years, the advancement of ultrasensitive technologies for the detection of proteins has improved our understanding of the role of translation-competent reservoirs in HIV persistence. In this chapter, we describe the development of an ultrasensitive p24 ELISA that uses planar array technology. This assay allows for the detection of HIV-1 p24 in the low fg/ml range in different biological matrixes, including cell lysates. This assay can be used to investigate the efficacy of latency reversing agents to reactivate HIV or to evaluate the persistence of translation-competent reservoirs in people living with HIV (PWH) in cells or diverse biological fluids.