Inventors:
George Miller - New Haven CT
Karen E. Dahl - New Haven CT
Assignee:
Yale University - New Haven CT
International Classification:
C12Q 100, C12Q 170, G01N 3353, C12N 500, C12N 100
Abstract:
A cell line transformed by EBV and infected with a virus, e. g. , HIV, which cell line does not release extracellular virus, but which forms syncytia when 1) these cells are co-cultivated with lymphocytes permissive for HIV infection and 2) antibodies to HIV are not present (syncytia formation is specifically inhibited by antibodies by HIV).
Syncytial formation induced by cell lines not producing detectable HIV provides a unique and less hazardous test for the detection of non-productive HIV infection as well as for the determination of antibody response to HIV vaccines.