Envelope-based HIV vaccine peptides as antigens in HIV-1 immunodiagnostics

Many HIV-1 envelope-based synthetic peptides behave as antigenic mimics of linear or conformational epitopes generated in vivo in infected subjects, meaning they can be used as immunogens for antibody induction in appropriate animal models or as antigens in Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). These peptides are linear or branched, single sequenced or multi-epitopic, mostly representative of V3 and/or gp41 regions of HIV-1 envelope and when used as ELISA antigens, recognise human or simian retrovirus-induced antibodies. This review details the efficacy of envelope-based synthetic peptides as antigens in HIV diagnostic assays, including those originally designed as vaccine components. The majority of these synthetic peptides, even if based on the V3-loop of HIV-1, are designed to be homogenous. The few heterogeneous peptides prepared through novel synthesis are comparable in behaviour to their homogenous counterparts.

Keywords: synthetic peptides, immunosorbents, HIV detection, serodiagnosis, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, immunodiagnostic ELISAs, SIV, HIV-1, HIV-2, HIV vaccines, immunogens, antibodies, antigens