# EIAV: ANTIGENIC VARIATION AND RETROVIRUS PERSISTENCE

> **NIH NIH R01** · LOUISIANA STATE UNIV A&M COL BATON ROUGE · 1987 · $119,911

## Abstract

The objective of this proposal is to determine whether the unique periodic
clinical course of equine infectious anemia is due to "antigenic drift" of the
persistently infecting EIAV and to characterize the biochemical nature of any
antigenic alterations detected in the virion.  Towards this goal, a variety of
biochemical techniques developed and successfully employed with prototype
retroviruses will be used to characterize the polypeptides of laboratory EIAV
strains according to molecular weight, isoelectric point and glycosylation or
phosphorylation, their relatedness as determined by peptide mapping, and their
stoichiometry and location in the virion.  Each structural polypeptide will be
purified in quantities sufficient for the production of heterologous
monospecific antiserum.  These reagents will then be used to develop specific
radioimmunoassays for EIAV proteins and to study the expression of virion
polypeptides in host tissues by immunofluorescence and radioimmunoprecipitation
procedures.  Simultaneous with the above studies, wild-type EIAV and serum will
be isolated from sequential natural and drug-induced febrile episodes in horses
and the antigenicity of each EIAV isolate compared in cross-neutralization
studies.  To determine the nature and site of any detectable antigenic
alterations, the polypeptides of the EIAV isolates will be characterized and
compared by the immunologic and biochemical techniques developed with laboratory
strains of EIAV.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3177221
- **Project number:** 5R01CA038851-07
- **Recipient organization:** LOUISIANA STATE UNIV A&M COL BATON ROUGE
- **SAM.gov UEI:** ECQEYCHRNKJ4
- **Principal Investigator:** Ronald C Montelaro
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1987
- **Award amount:** $119,911
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1984-06-01 → 1988-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3177221

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3177221, EIAV: ANTIGENIC VARIATION AND RETROVIRUS PERSISTENCE (5R01CA038851-07). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3177221. Licensed CC0.

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