Structural analysis of p19 and p24 core polypeptides of primate lymphotropic retroviruses (PLRV)

Core polypeptides of primate lymphotropic retroviruses (PLRV) have very similar molecular weights. To discriminate between individual PLRVs we have compared two-dimensional tryptic peptide maps of 125I-labeled core polypeptides p19 and p24 of 11 isolates originating from humans and six simian species. Peptide maps showed homologies between all the simian viruses and the human isolates, but they were completely different from those of human T-cell leukemia virus type III (HTLV-III). In general p24s are more conserved than p19s. According to the relationship of their peptide maps we have classified the PLRVs into three groups, the human and chimpanzee isolates, macaque viruses, and green monkey virus.