HIV p66 Reverse Transcriptase Polypeptide

This is a full length Reverse Transcriptase which has been complemented with a preceding hexahistidine sequence in order to enable its purification. The protein reacts strongly with HIV positive sera and produces a single band at 66 kilodaltons on SDS gel electrophoretic analysis. In a recent development (2004) the company has developed a process for isolating the Hexahis p66 reverse transcriptase as a fully soluble protein (see below for SDS gel pattern). The solubility of the protein in aqueous buffer greatly enhances the flexibility when configuring several immunoassay formats involving the protein.

Aside from its importance as a constituent in component blot immunoassays, only a few reports have emerged on its potential utility as a primary antigen for use in screening assays. Its low yield in most expression systems, with the consequent difficulty in achieving a sufficient degree of purity while maintaining adequate final yield may be an explanation for the apparent relative scarcity of data in this regard.